home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Shareware 1 2 the Maxx
/
sw_1.zip
/
sw_1
/
BUSI
/
TX61A.ZIP
/
TICKLEX.DOC
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-08-04
|
174KB
|
3,687 lines
OTHER PROGRAMS IN THE "POWER OFFICE" LINE-UP
BillPower --> time & billing with totally integrated general ledger
MT-Tracker --> TickleX's scheduling power, plus a client/project database
RAMdesk --> pop-up network message system, calculator, scheduler,
phone directory, time/work/expense log, data base
ReSearch --> research/evidence organizer for litigation support
MORE DETAIL ON BILLPOWER and BILLPOWER PLUS
BillPower is a system designed to relieve you of the drudgery involved in
billing. In a nutshell, it will track the time you work on professional mat-
ters, keep up with your receipts and disbursements, and calculate the amount
owed by each client. And it will automatically prepare informative monthly
statements for all your clients. All on either a stand-alone or pop-up basis!
Engineered exclusively for the small firm, this innovative software offers
a rare combination of power and ease of use at a fair price. Unlike programs
that attempt to electronically emulate ancient manual accounting procedures,
BillPower is designed to capitalize upon the power of your computer. If you
are an "old hand" at bookkeeping, then open your mind to a real-time system
which immediately updates all balances at the time an entry is made; one that
does not require periodic batch postings or annual close-outs; one that pro-
vides a convenient method for correcting erroneous entries; a system that never
erases old data in the interest of consolidation. You'll find both BillPower
and BillPower Plus to be advanced products.
--> BillPower ($100): time, billing, & bookkeeping for firms with
up to three timekeepers -- includes bank account management,
income-expense reports, balance sheets, & several bill formats.
--> BillPower Plus ($150): time, billing, & bookkeeping for firms
with up to fifteen timekeepers -- builds upon BillPower's fea-
tures, adding the abilities to keep extensive indexed memos on
any subject, maintain notes on thousands of people, conduct con-
flict of interest checks, prepare mailing labels, and more.
BillPower can prepare several types of reports. Whenever you request
one, you will be presented with a screen listing the parameters by which you
can choose the information to be included. After you have selected the appro-
priate parameters, BillPower will hunt through its data base for informa-
tion meeting your specifications. The report may be sent to the screen, the
printer or to a disk file.
Finally, while other time and billing programs may offer "links" to exter-
nal accounting software, BillPower completely integrates its bookkeeping func-
tions into the rest of the program. In fact, BillPower Plus can simultaneously
update affected G/L accounts (as well as a client's balance and aged receiv-
ables) at the time that a disbursement or receipt is entered. This "real-time"
approach to bookkeeping, virtually unprecedented in a time and billing program,
saves you the time you would otherwise spend making duplicate G/L entries, pos-
ting transactions, and/or transferring files from one program to another. With
BillPower Plus, a SINGLE entry can handle all the updating that needs to be
done. No other program offers such a degree of integration. NONE!
TO: INTEGRA COMPUTING, 910 Cobb Place Manor Dr., Marietta, GA 30066 TX 6.1
Name __________________________________________________________
Firm Name __________________________________ Phone ________________
Address __________________________________________________________
City _________________ State ___ Zip _______ County ________
# Professionals _____ # Employees ____ Type of Practice ________________
I first heard of Integra Computing from ___________________________________
Prices and availability are subject to change without notice.
Send unregistered** copies of the following:
___ copies of MT-Tracker at $15 $_____
___ copies of RAMdesk at $10 ea $_____
___ copies of ReSearch at $10 ea $_____
___ copies of BillPower at $10 ea $_____
___ copies of BillPower Plus at $15 ea $_____
Send registered** copies of the following:
TickleX for use on ___ (number) non-connected workstations $_____
___ (number) networked workstations $_____
$60 for each of first 5 wkstations; $50 for each of wkstations 6-10;
$40 for each of wkstations 11-20; $35 for each of wkstations 21-50;
$30 for each of wkstations 51-100; $25 each thereafter.
___ copies of MT-Tracker at $90 $_____
___ copies of RAMdesk at $50 ea (only $25 w/each copy of TickleX)$_____
___ copies of ReSearch at $90 ea $_____
___ copies of BillPower Plus at $150 ea $_____
+++ Add an extra $60 for each hour of telephone support* you wish to buy $_____
To have programs supplied on 3.5" media, enclose $5.00 extra PER PROGRAM $_____
If you don't live in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, please add $10.00 more $_____
TOTAL ORDER $_____
___% Sales Tax for ___________ county, if you're a GA resident $_____
If you live in a country that was formerly governed by communists, and
this order is being placed before 1 January 1994, you may subtract 50% -$_____
Please enclose CHECK or MONEY ORDER in US dollars -- GRAND TOTAL $_____
Credit card orders and purchase orders which are
not accompanied by payment will not be accepted.
A check or money order must show on its face the
name & address of a US bank that will accept it.
I agree to all the terms of the License, Disclaimer, and Agreement found below.
_______________________________________ _________________
SIGNATURE DATE
* Telephone support will be provided if you pre-purchase it with this order
form. Such support must be used within a year. When you need assistance, you
may reach Integra Computing (404-426-5735) most weekdays from 4:00pm to 6:00pm,
Eastern Time. Because so much time is required to respond to mailed correspon-
dence, letters requesting assistance may not be answered. If you need help,
call -- don't write. But please don't even call unless you've pre-purchased
support with this order form; if you call without having prepaid for support,
each call will cost you a minimum of $15, plus $1.50 per minute.
** Unregistered software is programmed to remind you to register. Please
note that no credit will be given at the time of registration for the cost of
an unregistered copy.
-- LICENSE:
BillPower, TickleX, PopForm, ReSearch, RAMdesk, and their documentation
are copyrighted in 1985 to 1992 by R.A. Kelly. You may use any program on as
many computers as you like, as long as it is never installed with a SERIAL NUM-
BER (provided to you when you register as a user) on more than one computer at
a time and as long as you do not alter the program in any way. You may distri-
bute any of these programs to potential new users, provided that you never di-
vulge your SERIAL NUMBER to anyone, that you charge no fee for the program, and
that you do not bundle it with (or use it as an incentive to purchase or
lease) any other product or service, without the written consent of R.A. Kel-
ly. All rights not expressly granted above are reserved in R.A. Kelly.
-- DISCLAIMER:
BillPower, TickleX, PopForm, ReSearch, and RAMdesk may contain design and
programming flaws. Before using ANY software on a regular basis, try estimat-
ing the potential harm that could result from your reliance upon it. Please
don't use any of these programs unless you're willing to assume the associated
risks, such as billing and report inaccuracies and data loss.
BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAMDESK, AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONS
ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WAR-
RANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE). NO ORAL OR
WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED BY INTEGRA, ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBU-
TORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND REGARDING
BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, POPFORM, RESEARCH, OR RAMDESK, AND YOU MAY NOT RELY UPON
SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. USE OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, POPFORM, RESEARCH,
OR RAMDESK IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
NEITHER INTEGRA NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION,
PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, POPFORM, RESEARCH, OR RAMDESK
SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSI-
NESS INTERRUPTION, AND LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION) ARISING FROM THE USE
OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, POPFORM, RESEARCH, OR RAMDESK,
EVEN THOUGH INTEGRA MAY BE ADVISED THAT
SUCH DAMAGES ARE POSSIBLE.
-- AGREEMENT:
As used in this Agreement, the terms "BillPower" ,"TickleX", "PopForm",
"ReSearch", and "RAMdesk", if not followed by a series or version designation,
mean any version or series of BillPower, BillPower Plus, TickleX, PopForm,
ReSearch, or RAMdesk provided to you now or in the future.
Your attempt to use BillPower, TickleX, PopForm, ReSearch, or RAMdesk
constitutes your acceptance of the terms set forth in the foregoing LICENSE
and DISCLAIMER (which are incorporated into this Agreement). Your attempt to
use BillPower, TickleX, PopForm, ReSearch, or RAMdesk also constitutes your
agreement that if you bring any legal action relating to BillPower, TickleX,
PopForm, ReSearch, or RAMdesk, 1) your sole remedy for the damages for which
any defendant is found liable (including direct, indirect, incidental and con-
sequential damages) will be the recovery of whatever you paid to register as a
user of the program, and 2) you will pay all defendants' attorneys fees and
other legal costs if you do not prevail on all claims made in your pleadings.
The terms of this Agreement are governed by Georgia law. If any of this
Agreement's terms shall be held invalid to any extent, the remainder of this
Agreement shall be unaffected by such invalidity.
THE ABOVE PARAGRAPHS CONSTITUTE THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND INTE-
GRA. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION, INFORMATION, OR ADVICE FROM ANY SOURCE
MAY ALTER THE AGREEMENT AS SET FORTH ABOVE.
SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR OF LIABIL-
ITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS
AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH MAY
VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.
TICKLEX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
CHAPTER 1
BUILDING BLOCKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
SETTING UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Common Customization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Batch File Customizing (European notation, etc.) . . . . . . . . 11
Customizing for laser printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
EVENT TYPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHAPTER 2
USING TICKLEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Alternative Main Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Information Shown on Main Menu's Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 17
Moving Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Screen Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Making an Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Blinking Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Clones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
A Note about Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Editing/Examining Individual Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Editing a Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Frequently Scheduled or Recurring Events . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Earliest and latest dates of occurrence . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Events separated by a certain number of days . . . . . . . . . 25
Events that occur every second or third month . . . . . . . . 26
Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Wrapping it all up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
To-Do List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Six-Month View (and calendar calculator to find any day) . . . . 30
Weekly View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Omitting Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Tagging Events for Omission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Actually Omitting Events, Plans and Projects . . . . . . . . . 32
Hunting for Entries and Preparing Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Event chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Printed daily schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Printed calendars (weekly, monthly, yearly) . . . . . . . . . 37
Other Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Custom reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Finding Free Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Re-Scheduling Several Events Quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Stopwatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Morning Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
CHAPTER 3
UTILITIES (BACKUP, RESTORE, PRINTER DRIVERS, ETC). . . . . . . . . . 43
CHAPTER 4
LOG MODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
CHAPTER 5
POP-UP TICKLEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
CHAPTER 6
TICKLEX ON A LOCAL AREA NETWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
CHAPTER 7
SHARING DATA AMONG SEVERAL COMPUTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
CHAPTER 8
EMPLOYEE/DEPARTMENT GROUPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
CHAPTER 9
AUTOMATED EXECUTION (MACROS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
APPENDIX A: MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
TICKLEX
INSTRUCTIONS
NOTE: Despite your natural inclination, you should never access
TickleX by entering "ticklex" at the DOS prompt. See the
BUILDING BLOCKS section of CHAPTER 1.
NOTE: If you're using an unregistered copy of the program,
it will begin to beep at you in several weeks, reminding
you that it's time to register. Don't worry -- no data
will be destroyed, and you'll always be able to use the
program, despite the fact that you delay registering.
INTRODUCTION
TickleX is an advanced tickler, scheduler, calendar, and to-do
list that can also be used to track hours worked, expenses, and in-
come. It's unique in that it integrates these facilities with the
ability to handle simple "project management" tasks, such as docket
control. The program operates on an IBM-compatible PC. It requires
about 450 Kilobytes of memory when being accessed, but only 7 Kilo-
bytes when waiting in the background as a "pop-up" (see the POP-UP
TICKLEX chapter). It can handle up to 12000 Appointments, Deadlines,
Trips, Vacations, Exercises, Miscellaneous events, and Reminders, all
at once (see the EVENT TYPES section of CHAPTER 1).
Several program and data files are required to make TickleX work:
TX.BAT batch file used to enter TickleX
TICKLEX.EXE main program
TICKLEX.OVR overlay file for the main program
PC-BEEP.EXE TickleX's (or RAMdesk's) alarm program
RAMDESK.CFG data that customizes PC-BEEP.EXE, above
EDITX.EXE TickleX's text editor
PRNTINIT data to help TickleX work with your printer
PRNTDRVR.EXE program that quickly creates PRNTINIT, above
M-JOURN.LBF, .LBI TickleX's schedule database files
M-WORK.LBF, .LBI TickleX's log database files
RECUR.x files containing recurring event data
BLANKCAL, BLANKCL Main Menu calendar grids
INCMEXPNS.DAT listing of income/expense categories
LASRCODE laser printer codes for various functions
x.HLP help files
x.RPT customized report files
x.LBT plan template files
INTRODUCTION 6
THE BUILDING BLOCKS
Before you begin using TickleX, you should first acquaint your-
self with some basics. To begin with, make sure your monitor's con-
trast is set so that the screen can display different shades. If it's
not set properly, TickleX's instructions will occasionally seem con-
fusing.
ENTERING THE PROGRAM
You should access TickleX by entering "TX xxx", where xxx are
your initials. This causes the TX.BAT file to execute.
---> NEVER ACCESS TICKLEX BY ENTERING "TICKLEX" <---
Don't even rename the TX.BAT file. With only one exception, TickleX
must ALWAYS be entered through a batch file called TX.BAT. If you
want to access TickleX through an automated menu program, you may do
so, as long as the the menu program calls TX.BAT (rather than directly
calling TICKLEX).
The exception to the rule that TickleX must be entered through
TX.BAT comes into play if you wish to use the program as a "pop-up"
and want it to be loaded automatically whenever you turn on your com-
puter. See the CHAPTER 5 (POP-UP TICKLEX).
KEYBOARD ENTRIES
Using TickleX requires you to make data entries at your computer
keyboard. When you are asked to `enter' something, you should type in
the response at the keyboard and then finish your entry by pressing
RET (the "Return", or "Enter", key). `Enter', therefore, implies that
you will complete your entry with a RET. If you are asked merely to
`press' a key, you should not press RET after you have pressed the
appropriate key. `Press' means that you need make only one keystroke;
'enter' implies that more that one keystroke is permissible, since all
entries must end with RET.
CONTROL CHARACTERS
On-screen instructions will frequently instruct you to press
control characters. A control character is represented graphically
as a letter preceded by an up caret (eg: ^A or ^H). If you are
instructed to press a control character, you must hold the Ctrl key
down, while simultaneously pressing the appropriate letter key. For
example, to press ^T, hold down the Ctrl key and tap the "T" (or "t")
key. Do not actually press the up caret key; the up caret is used
merely as a graphic representation of the control key.
1 -- BUILDING BLOCKS 7
THE `RET' KEY
RET (the return key) serves two functions in TickleX. First, it
is the key used to end all entries. And second, if, in response to a
screen prompt, you press it before you press any other keys, it acts
to tell the program that you wish to ignore the prompt and retain the
current response, if any. If, for instance, TickleX asked you a name,
you could just press RET, and the program would infer that you wished
to ignore the question. Depending upon the circumstances, TickleX
would then move on to the next question in a series, or it would abort
the procedure in which the question occurred. ESC (the Escape key)
will usually serve to tell TickleX not only to ignore a response, but
also to abort the procedure entirely.
PAUSING
When you find the computer in the middle of some lengthy proce-
dure, such as printing a report, and you want to pause, press the
space bar. Doing so will cause the process to stop until you press
the space bar again. This use of the space bar will not work in all
of the program's operational modes, but it will in most. Pressing
the space bar may take a few seconds to have an effect, so be patient.
ABORTING
If, instead of wishing that the computer pause in the middle of
a procedure, you prefer to abort that procedure altogether, press ESC
(the Escape key). As with the space bar, this key may not work in
all parts of the program, and it may take a few seconds to act.
MESSAGE LINES
The last line or two on the display screen will nearly always
have a message for you. The message will often contain either in-
structions or an error message. If you are ever unclear about what
you are supposed to do next, look at these message lines, which will
be printed in reverse video. If the intent of the message is not
clear, you might find an explanation of it in the MESSAGES appendix to
these instructions.
1 -- BUILDING BLOCKS 8
SETTING UP
TickleX must be placed into a MANAGEX directory on your computer.
If you've gone through the automated install routine, that's already
been handled for you.
You should also copy the BACKUP and RESTORE programs from your
computer's DOS diskette to the MANAGEX directory (or, alternatively,
make sure that they're in your computer's directory "path").
COMMON CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS
When you first begin using TickleX, you will have to answer a
number of CUSTOMIZING questions. If you make any mistakes in filling
in the blanks, don't worry; you may always come back to this series of
questions later if you press "U" at the Main Menu and then "C" at the
Utilities menu.
-> Drive used for TickleX: Enter the letter designation (C,D, etc.)
of the hard disk on which you want to store TickleX's data. If
there's room, you will probably use the same disk for both program
and data.
-> Initials: Enter the initials of each employee for whom Appoint-
ments, Deadlines, etc., will be stored by TickleX. An employee is
an individual or office that you want to track with the program.
If you wish, you may also tell TickleX the name of the employee
whose initials you're entering. To do so, just press ^C to begin
entering the name (up to 15 characters) at the bottom of the screen.
-> Printer Port: The program needs to know the parallel port to which
your printer is attached. Press the 1, 2, or 3 key. By the way,
you may temporarily alter the printer port at the time a report is
prepared if you simply press the 1, 2 or 3 key just before begin-
ning the hunt through the database.
-> Reset Printer: Before preparing a report, the program will momen-
tarily reset your printer (unless you've indicated a Laser prin-
ter). If you find this to be an unnecessary annoyance, answer
"NO" here.
-> Printer Lines per Page: Enter the number of lines your printer is
set to print on each sheet of paper. If you're unsure, just press
RET to keep the default setting (66). If you're using a laser
printer, this figure is irrelevant, so you should enter "LASER".
If you indicate that you're using a laser printer,
TickleX will offer a wider variety of reports than would
otherwise be the case. TickleX will assume that you're
using a Hewlett Packard Laser Jet printer (or one that
emulates the Laser Jet). If your printer cannot emulate
1 -- SETTING UP 9
the Laser Jet, the program's reporting functions may not
operate properly. In this case, see the "Batch File
Customization" section below.
-> 24-hour Time, etc: If this item is answered "YES", TickleX will
use 24-hour (instead of 12-hour) time. It will also use the
DD/MM/YY date format, instead of the usual American MM/DD/YY format.
-> Use Main Calendar Date: If "NO", TickleX will, at the time you
begin entering a new event into the system, prompt you for a date
before taking you to the data entry screen. If "YES", TickleX
will assume that the date you want is what is shown on the Main
Menu calendar, hence shortening the procedure.
-> Batch Entries: If you regularly enter several events in a row for
the same date, this item should be "YES". If you normally enter
only one event at a time, this item should be "NO". If you answer
"YES", TickleX will assume that, in addition to your normally
entering several records in a row when in the "MAKE" routine (for
new records), you will likewise normally edit several events in a
row whenever you're in the "EDIT" routine (for old records).
-> Prompt for Reminders: If you want TickleX to automatically prompt
you for up to 10 reminders when you finish entering an event, this
item should be "YES".
-> Prompt for Priorities: If you find it useful to assign priorities
to your deadlines (to-do's), you'll want TickleX to prompt you for
a priority at the time you enter a deadline into the system. The
default for this item is "NO", because very few people actually pay
attention to the priorities originally assigned to deadlines when
they're put into the system. Instead, as each new day arrives,
they review ALL of that day's deadlines and decide AT THAT TIME
which deadlines are most important (completely ignoring whatever
priority was originally assigned to each event). But, if you in-
sist upon having TickleX prompt you for a deadline's priority as
you enter it into the system, you should answer this item, "YES".
When TickleX knows that it should follow priorities, it will dis-
play each deadline's priority number at the left margin of each
day's full-detail "daily view"; and you'll be able to hunt through
the database to produce a report in priority order.
-> Prompt for Alarms: If you plan to use PC-Beep (TickleX's companion
alarm program) to provide pop-up alarms for the events entered into
TickleX, you should answer this item, "YES". If you do, TickleX
will ask you for an alarm time whenever you enter an event.
-> Colors: Press "M" until the main foreground color you want appears.
Press "S" until the secondary color appears. Press "B" until you
have the desired background. Press RET when you're finished
selecting clolrs. Only computers equipped with color video cards
will be given the colors options.
1 -- SETTING UP 10
There are some secondary items that may be customized if you press the
F9 key after passing through all the above ones:
-> There are three types of events whose names you may change:
GOTCHAs, EXERCISEs, and MISCELLANEOUS events. To give each a dif-
ferent name, just type the name you want. Whatever the name you
substitute for GOTCHA, the event type will have the characteristics
of GOTCHAs and DEADLINEs (eg: they'll be automatically brought for-
ward from day to day). If you change the name of MISCELLANEOUS or
EXERCISE, the traits of the event will become similar to those of
ordinary APPOINTMENTs. Please don't make ANY changes here until
you're thoroughly familiar with the program.
-> TDY & Leave: Military offices may find these references more ap-
propriate than "trips" and "vacations".
-> Employees or Departments: Choose the term by which you wish to
refer to the people, positions or offices in your firm.
-> Workday Begin and End Times: Whenever you ask the program to find
a block of free time, it needs to know how early and how late you
want it to check each day. Without reasonable begin and end times,
the program would always find free time in the middle of the night.
-> Partition Interval: When the program prepares the "Printed Daily
Schedule" report, it needs to know how many partitions should be
printed per hour. If you desire two partitions, enter "30" min-
utes; enter "15" for four, etc. By the way, the "Printed Daily
Schedule" is always centered on 1:00PM, and the Begin and End
times entered above are used to estimate the total number of hours
you want shown on that report.
-> Show Partitions on Standard Reports: Normally, the program does
not waste space in displaying partition lines on its standard re-
ports. If, however, you want it to partition each day into half-
or quarter-hourly blocks, answer "YES" at this item.
BATCH FILE CUSTOMIZATION
There are also a few things you can customize at the batch file
level. In the TX.BAT file, there is a line that starts with the word,
"TICKLEX". This line may contain parameters which instruct the prog-
ram to make certain assumptions. For instance, if you wish to use
password protection when using the program on a network, the second
parameter following "TICKLEX" should contain the character sequence
"PW". See the TICKLEX ON A LOCAL AREA NETWORK chapter for more on
this subject.
To use European date notation (eg: "24.5.92", instead of
"24 May 92"), the 11th parameter should be "x", and the 12th should be
1 -- SETTING UP 11
"EURODATE". Example:
"ticklex x x x x x x x x x x x EURODATE"
To show calendars of the European type (Monday to Sunday), instead of
American (Sunday to Saturday), the 12th parameter should contain the
character string, "CAL". Examples:
"ticklex x x x x x x x x x x x EURODATECAL"
"ticklex x x x x x x x x x x x EUROCAL"
If your printer is connected to your computer's SERIAL port,
rather than to its parallel port, you should insert a couple of lines
into the TX.BAT file, just above the "TICKLEX" line. The first line
should contain the appropriate MODE command (see your DOS manual) to
enable your serial port to communicate with your printer (these
parameters should be in your printer manual). The second line should
read, "MODE LPT1:=COM1" (or "MODE LPT1:=COM2", if using comm port 2).
Also, Printer Resetting should be set to "NO" (see the "Common
Customization Options" section above).
If you're using a laser printer that CANNOT emulate the Hewlett
Packard Laser Jet (and if you have been unsuccessful in modifying the
the LASRCODE file, discussed in the next section), you should make
sure that the second parameter contains the character sequence "NLJ".
Examples:
"mttrack x NLJ x x x x x x x x x EURODATECAL"
"mttrack x PWNLJ x x ABC DEF F:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX x MR 1"
Finally, if you use desqVIEW, you should add a line at the bottom
of the TX.BAT file, saying "EXIT".
CUSTOMIZING FOR LASER PRINTERS
If your printer is not compatible with the Hewlitt Packard Laser
Jet series, you may not be able to take advantage of some of the re-
ports offered by the program. But there is still a slim possibility
that you can, if you'll need to modify the LASRCODE file with a text
editor, such as EDITX.EXE (Ctrl-E from the Main Menu).
The LASRCODE file contains a series of lines, each of which
begins with a description of a code and ends with the actual code that
will be sent to your printer to achieve the results described. The
codes that are currently in that file are for the Laser Jet series of
printers. If your printer has different codes for exactly the same
functions, you may substitute them.
Be sure to change only the code section of each line (following
the equals sign). The code must consist of actual characters, not hex
or decimal numbers. If you use EDITX.EXE, remember that, to enter the
1 -- SETTING UP 12
ESC key (or any control-key combination), you must first press Ctrl-P,
then the ESC key (or other control-key combination).
If you can't successfully modify the LASRCODE file, you'll need
to tell TickleX that it should ignore the file. To find out how to do
so, read the "Batch File Customization" section's discussion of the NLJ
command at the second parameter.
1 -- SETTING UP 13
EVENT TYPES
An APPOINTMENT is an event scheduled for a particular time and
day. A lunch date, for instance, would be entered as an Appointment.
A DEADLINE is an event for which your firm is responsible. It's char-
acter is such that failing to meet it may get you into trouble (a "to-
do", for instance, is in reality a Deadline). A MISCELLANEOUS event,
on the other hand, is something which you expect to take place, but
for which you aren't responsible. For instance, if another office is
supposed to answer a complaint by 20 August, you would enter that ev-
ent under the Miscellaneous category. If YOUR office is supposed to
answer a complaint by 20 August, you would enter it as a Deadline. If
the Deadline is absolutely crucial, it should be entered as a GOTCHA
(which is a super Deadline).
An EXERCISE is a test or a period of training. You might prefer
to use this category for scheduling an employee's work or some other
major category of event.
The TRIP and VACATION categories are self-explanatory. Multi-day
events, such as Vacations and Trips, need be entered only once, for
the date on which the event begins (eg: the beginning date of your
vacation). Whenever you need to change something about that recorded
event, you need edit only one record, the one entered for the event's
beginning date. Yet, despite the fact that only one entry is actually
kept in the data base, your daily schedule for each day of the multi-
day event will reflect that event.
It's necessary that you recognize the importance of Deadlines
(including Gotchas). If you occasionally enter an Appointment as a
Miscellaneous event, or a Trip as an Exercise, there won't be any ser-
ious ramifications. But a Deadline should always be entered as such
(or as a Gotcha). You see, only Deadlines and Gotchas are deemed im-
portant enough by TickleX to be brought forward when they're past due.
In this way, TickleX will continue reminding you of a Deadline, even
after it's been passed, until you check it off. If something really
should be entered as a Deadline, and you instead enter it as an Ap-
pointment or Miscellaneous event, TickleX won't keep hounding you to
take care of it after it's scheduled date passes. In other words,
that item will be dropped from your "to-do" list after the scheduled
date. In most cases this won't cause any problems, but there may be
times when you'll wish you had entered something as a Deadline, so
that you'll keep being reminded of it until it's done.
A REMINDER is an entry reminding you that an Appointment, Dead-
line, etc., will occur at some time in the future. A Reminder must be
set at least one day prior to the event of which you wish to be re-
minded. For instance, you might wish to be reminded on Monday that
you have an important meeting on Tuesday. Or, you might want to be
reminded that a report is due in a couple of weeks (the actual due
date would be entered as a Deadline, and a Reminder could be set a
couple of weeks prior to the due date).
1 -- EVENT TYPES 14
Each Appointment, Deadline, etc., may have up to ten Reminders
linked to it. This linking, a TickleX exclusive, is handled automat-
ically. Linking Reminders to the tasks to which they refer is advan-
tageous when you need to change the original task. When such a change
is made, all the linked Reminders are automatically changed appropri-
ately. Assume, for instance, that you originally scheduled an Ap-
pointment for 1 September, and made a Reminder for 25 August (remin-
ding you of the 1 September Appointment). If you subsequently changed
the 1 September Appointment to 31 August, TickleX would also automati-
cally change the 25 August Reminder so that it reflected the Appoint-
ment's new date (31 August). The date of the Reminder, itself, would
also be changed to 24 August, in order to maintain the 1-week interval
between Appointment and Reminder that had originally been established.
A PLAN is a special file that lists the expected tasks for a pro-
ject with which you are involved. This listing contains the anticipa-
ted time interval between each task. When you enter or change a date
in the Plan, TickleX will automatically change the dates for all rela-
ted tasks accordingly. Plans are useful in planning complicated pro-
jects, such as lawsuits or exercises involving plentiful milestones.
By the way, GOTCHAs, EXERCISEs, and MISCELLANEOUS event types may
be renamed. See the SETTING UP section of CHAPTER 1.
1 -- EVENT TYPES 15
USING TICKLEX
THE MAIN MENU
-- Alternative Main Menus
You may use any of TickleX's four Main Menus, each consisting of
a large calendar and two menu lines at the bottom of the screen. The
menu lines list the most frequently used program options, but not all.
To see a complete listing, press the F1 key.
To switch to among the Main Menus, press the TAB key. Whichever
Main Menu is last used before you exit the program will be the menu to
which TickleX will default the next time you load it.
One of the Main Menus displays the types of events scheduled for
each day. Each day's box on the calendar contains up to eleven a's,
D's, etc. Each of these characters represents an Appointment, Dead-
line, etc., that falls on that date. The more characters you see in a
day's box, the more things have been scheduled for that day. To save
space, however, no more than one Reminder (reminding you of an actual
event sometime in the future) will be shown in each day's box.
Another Main Menu displays the blocks of time that have been
scheduled for each day. Each day's box contains from zero to twenty-
four rectangles, arranged in two rows of up to twelve rectangles each.
Each rectangle represents one-half hour that's already been scheduled
for that day. The top row shows which half-hour blocks have been
scheduled between 7:00 AM and 1:00 PM. The bottom row represents 1:00
to 7:00 PM. You will also note that there is a vertical line marking
each hour (on the half-hour) from 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM. This calendar
will quickly give you a very rough idea of how much time has been
scheduled for each day of the month.
A third Main Menu will show BOTH event types AND time scheduled
(7:00AM to 5:00PM) for each day.
A long box at the bottom of the three aforementioned Main Menus
will display the first several characters of each of four Gotchas and
Deadlines scheduled for the day that is highlighted. If there are
fewer than four Gotchas and Deadlines, other types of events may also
be shown (reminders and events tagged for omission, however, will not
appear here).
Now, there's one last Main Menu that's very popular. It splits
the screen in half, displaying a calendar on the left and up to seven-
teen abbreviated event descriptions on the right. Each day's box in
the calendar will be blank if there's nothing scheduled that day. If,
on the other hand, there's at least one event whose ending time is
later than its beginning time, the box will display a rough horizontal
2 -- USING TICKLEX 16
bar chart illustrating the times during which that day's events take
place. If no time has actually been blocked off during that day, but
there IS some non-time-blocked activity, the box will contain a single
dot.
-- Information Shown on Main Menu's Calendar
By default, each Main Menu will show events scheduled for ALL
your employees. If you wish to see only one particular employee's
schedule, press the F3 key. Then, tell TickleX which employee you
want shown on the calendar. If you want ALL employees to be dis-
played, just press RET when TickleX asks you for one.
An alternate way to change the employee being shown on the calen-
dar is to simply press the number key corresponding to that employee's
ID number. For example, pressing "1" results in employee 1's being
shown on the calendar. Pressing "0" tells TickleX to show ALL em-
ployees on the calendar. Of course, this scheme works only for em-
ployees 1 to 9, so if you want to see an employee from 10 to 200,
you'll have to use the F3 key.
Pressing the F7 key will allow you to select a specific PROJECT
(as opposed to an employee) whose events you wish to see, to the ex-
clusion of all others.
-- Moving Around
You can move from day to day with the arrow keys. When you land
upon a day for which you'd like to see more detail, press the RET key.
When you do, the calendar will be replaced by a screen that fully des-
cribes each of that single day's events. To zoom back to the calen-
dar, just press the RET key again. Whether you're looking at the
large calendar or an individual day's events, the arrow keys work
identically:
left arrow: go back one day;
right arrow: go forward a day;
up arrow: go back one week;
down arrow: go forward a week;
PgUp: go back one month; and
PgDn: go forward one month.
Whether you're looking at the big calendar or an individual day, you
have the full range of options shown in the same two-line menu at
the bottom of the screen. And the TAB key also works in the daily
view to toggle between alternate views of the day:
--> three spell out the beginning and ending times for each event:
1: without a small calendar in the upper right corner;
2: with a small calendar in the upper right;
2 -- USING TICKLEX 17
3: with a small calendar and each event's full notes;
--> two fill in blocks representing the events' times:
1: without a small calendar in the upper right corner;
2: with a small calendar in the upper right;
Pressing "W" while in either the monthly or daily view will
take you to a weekly view of the data. When finished with the weekly
view, press RET to return to the screen from which you entered it.
-- Screen Printing
If you ever need to print a screen's worth of data, you may press
the Shift-PrtScr key combination, which works just as it does with most
other programs.
If you're in the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly view, however, you'll
have more flexibility if you press Ctrl-PrtScr, instead of Shift-
PrtScr. Doing so will present you with a couple of options.
MAKING AN ENTRY
When you choose the Make option, you will be asked to spec-
ify the sort of event you are about to enter. Most are discussed in
the EVENT TYPES section of CHAPTER 1. If you choose to enter a new
Plan, you will be taken through the straightforward sequence discussed
in "Editing a Plan", below. Event "Clones" are also discussed below.
When you are asked to enter the date, a small calendar may ap-
pear on the screen. You have the option of either: 1) entering the
date at the prompt; or 2) using the cursor movement keys to locate the
desired date on the calendar and then pressing RET. The PgUp and PgDn
keys will change the month displayed on the calendar.
If you don't know the date you need to enter, but do know that it
is a certain number of days before or after a given date, enter the
given date, followed by a plus or minus sign, followed in turn by the
number of days you wish to add or subtract. If, for instance, you
need to enter the date that is 120 days after 2 OCT 89, you should
enter "2 OCT 89 +120". TickleX will automatically figure the correct
date for you. If you need to move forward or backward a given number
of months (instead of days), just highlight the appropriate date on
the calendar and press the PgUp or PgDn keys appropriately.
After you've selected the date, a new screen will appear. Here,
you will complete your entry.
One of the items to be filled in is the employee affected by the
event. If you wish to schedule more than one employee, each should be
separated from the next by a comma (eg: "ABC,DEF,GHI,JKL" will tell
2 -- USING TICKLEX 18
TickleX that you wish to schedule identical events for each of four
employees -- ABC, DEF, GHI, and JKL).
NOTE: If you don't need to fill in an item, just skip it by
pressing the RET key. Never feel compelled to make an entry
for an item that you don't think is important. If, for in-
stance, the beginning time is not important, don't fill in
that item. The only items that TickleX absolutely requires
are a date and an event/description.
There are three "Time" items, one for each of the beginning and
ending times, and one for an alarm. If you enter a time that has al-
ready been "blocked off" for the day, TickleX will remind you of a
possible conflict and afford you the opportunity to change the entry
if you need to.
NOTE: TickleX assumes that an event with no ending time (or
an ending time identical to the beginning time) is not inten-
ded to be "blocked off". Hence, you may schedule multiple
Deadlines for 11:00 (no ending time), without TickleX's re-
minding you of possible conflicts. If, however, you have an
Appointment scheduled from 11:00 to 12:00, subsequent at-
tempts to enter anything during that period will trigger
TickleX's time block protection response.
The "Priority" item may appear if this event is a Deadline or a
Gotcha (assuming you've customized the program to ask for priorities -
- see the SETTING UP section of CHAPTER 1). Here, fill in the prior-
ity level you wish to assign to the event. You may use any number
from 0 to 9 or any letter from A to Z. The lower the number or let-
ter, the higher the priority (eg: 0 is a higher priority than 1, 9 is
higher than A, and A is higher than B,).
The item called "Project" (or "CaseNumber", if you are also using
BillPower) contemplates an alphanumeric entry up to twelve characters
long. You need not enter anything, but you may wish to, since this
item may help you to search through the data base quickly to find only
those events involving a specific project (case, job). If you enter
something, you may use the same scheme your office has always used to
identify each project. For instance, the project for John Smith might
be called "8801-JS-1" or "Smith, J", or "SMITJO", or anything else.
By the way, pressing F1 here will result in a display of the list of
projects entered into the program in the past.
NOTE:
If the time, project/case, or event of the record
you're presently entering is the same as the corresponding
item in the preceding record just entered, you can save some
time by just entering "S". Whenever "S" is entered for a
time, project/case, or event, TickleX will pick up that
item's text from the record you've just finished entering.
2 -- USING TICKLEX 19
After you enter the "EVENT/DESCRIPTION" item, you will be affor-
ded the opportunity to add up to 14 lines of notes to the entry.
-- Blinking Events
If an event is so important that you want it to blink whenever
it's displayed on the Main Menu, press ^B (Ctrl-B) at the end of the
EVENT/DESCRIPTION item. When you do, stylized "B" will appear.
-- Clones
A Clone is an almost exact copy of an event. Let's suppose you
have an event already entered into the program and you want to make a
copy of it for another day or another employee. To do so, select
"Clone" when asked for the type of event at the bottom of the screen.
The cloning process is very straightforward. First, you'll be asked
which date contains the item to be cloned. Then you'll be shown a
list of the items already entered for that date. When you select one
of them, that item will be "cloned", and you'll be allowed to edit the
new copy, so that you can change its date, employee, or anything else.
When you save the new copy by pressing F6, you will have successfully
made a change or two to your newly "cloned" event.
-- A Note about Reminders
Reminders are created most conveniently at the time you origin-
ally enter the event to which they refer. TickleX will automatically
prompt you to create such Reminders after each Appointment, Deadline,
etc., has been input.
But Reminders may also be entered subsequent to your entry of an
Appointment, Deadline, etc. To do so, press "R" when asked to specify
an event type at the bottom of the screen. You will next be asked the
date of the event for which you need a Reminder. Then, TickleX will
show you the record number of each primary event scheduled for that
date. You will be expected to use the arrow keys to highlight the
specific event of which you wish to be reminded (or, if you prefer,
you may simply enter its record number). Then, TickleX will flash
that record to the screen and ask you to enter the date for which you
wish this new Reminder to be set.
EDITING/EXAMINING INDIVIDUAL ITEMS
When you press "E" at the Main Menu, you'll enter the Edit/Exam-
ine mode. Then you'll be asked to enter the date of the event you
wish to edit/examine (you won't be asked this question, however, if
you've customized the program to assume that the date whose event you
want to edit is the highlighted Main Menu date -- see the SETTING UP
section of CHAPTER 1).
2 -- USING TICKLEX 20
Once TickleX knows the date in which you're interested, you'll be
shown a list of everything scheduled for that date. You will then be
asked to select the specific event you wish to edit or examine. If
you don't see the one you're looking for, you've probably specified
the wrong date. Use the arrow keys to change the date and display a
different set of events. When you finally find the event you want to
edit, highlight it and press RET (or enter its record number).
The selected record will then appear on the screen, and you may
modify it as you wish. Press F6 when you're done. If the record just
changed is referenced by any Reminders, they will be automatically
updated to reflect the changes you made. Then, if one of the changes
you made was to the event's date, you'll be shown each of its Remin-
ders, so that you can confirm the changes automatically rendered by
TickleX.
EDITING A PLAN
When you choose to work with a Plan, you'll be shown a listing of
all Plans presently on the hard disk. Then, you'll be asked to choose
one of them. Before we go any further, however, let's discuss exactly
what a plan is and how it's set up.
A Plan is a file that may be used to chart the course that a pro-
ject is expected to follow. Each Plan may be set up individually or
it may be based upon a Template. You may establish a separate Tem-
plate for each general category of project your firm handles. A real
estate project, for instance, might use a "REALTY" Template. Remem-
ber, a Plan is a sequence of events for a specific project. A Tem-
plate, on the other hand, is a generalized sequence of events for a
general class of project. Once the "REALTY" template is established,
for instance, it may be used as the basis for an actual project in-
volving real estate.
Plan and Template files may be created with EDITX. Each contains
a listing of the tasks that usually take place in the type of project
to be tracked. Each line in the file consists of a task description,
an abbreviation for that task, the type of task (eg: Deadline or Ap-
pointment), and perhaps a brief note about that task. Also included
is the interval (expressed in days) that is expected between that task
and the preceding one. If an item is completely unrelated to the pre-
ceding one, the interval item should be left blank. The notes item
may also be left blank if you wish, but every line in the file MUST
have both an abbreviation and a description. A Template or Plan file
may have NO empty lines.
TickleX comes with a sample Template file called "SAMPLE". Take
a look at it with EDITX (^E at the Main Menu). Note, as you view it,
that no actual dates are filled in. Never fill in Plan/Template dates
with EDITX. Enter dates ONLY in the main TickleX program.
2 -- USING TICKLEX 21
BRIEF EXAMPLE OF A TEMPLATE:
ABB -------DESCRIPTION------- INT TYP DATE ---NOTES-------------
INJ Injury -
CMP File complaint -
ANS Expect answer 30 M
SL Stat Of Limitations runs 730 D inj\
SLN Note: Now it's too late 730 N inj\
The first line reflects the injury. Remember, this is just a
Template, not a Plan for an actual project. Therefore, no date infor-
mation is filled in. The next line is for the filing of the com-
plaint. It has no interval item because the date on which it is to
take place is not necessarily related to the date of the injury. The
third line reflects that an answer is expected 30 days after the com-
plaint is filed. The fourth line indicates that the statute of limi-
tations will expire 730 days after the injury takes place. The "inj\"
in the notes item ties the SL interval to the first line, which begins
with "INJ". Were in not for the "inj\" notation, the fourth line's
interval would be assumed to be tied to the immediately preceding line
(the "ANS" line). The fifth line is a note for the 4th line. Its
type is 'N', and it must use the remarks section to refer to the event
from which the 4th line's interval is calculated.
When you set up a Plan for a project, it will initially consist
of an exact copy of the Template from which it was copied (assuming
you didn't write an original Plan "from scratch" in EDITX). No dates
will actually be filled in. Extensive changes to the body of the Plan
must be made in EDITX (by pressing ^E at the Main Menu). Filling in
dates, however, is handled by pressing "P" at the Main Menu. This "P"
(Plan) option is the one to choose if you want TickleX to fill in
dates for related tasks automatically. The ^E option (EDITX) won't
allow you to fill in dates.
If you want to fill in some Plan dates, press "P" at the Main
Menu. You'll be shown a listing of all Plans presently on the hard
disk. Then, you'll be asked to choose one of them. If you wish to
create a new one, enter a name for it. TickleX will then remind you
that it doesn't exist and show you a listing of the Templates from
which the new plan can be copied. If an appropriate template exists,
type in it's name, and it'll be copied verbatim into the new Plan
you've chosen to set up. If an appropriate Template does NOT yet
exist, you'll have to press ESC and go to EDITX (by pressing ^E at the
Main Menu) to create a new Template (or the actual plan you want to
set up) "from scratch". Now, let's quickly cover how to edit an es-
tablished Plan.
Once a Plan has been created, filling in the dates is a simple
matter. First, specify which Plan you wish to edit. Then, select a
task for editing by using the arrow keys to highlight that task (or
2 -- USING TICKLEX 22
optionally, just entering the task's abbreviation).
Each time you select a task, you'll be taken through a series of
prompts (date, time, etc.). Anytime you don't need to fill in a par-
ticular item, just press RET to move on to the next.
After TickleX has accepted all the information for a task, it
will search the plan for subsequent tasks whose intervals are related
to the date of the task just entered. As it encounters a subsequent
related task, its date will be automatically assigned, and you'll be
given the opportunity to enter any other information you wish.
When you're finished making changes to the Plan, press the ESC
key to return to the Main Menu.
NOTE:
Note that TickleX moves through the Plan from beginning
to end; it cannot be forced to go backward. But if you ever
need to calculate earlier dates from later ones, TickleX
will still accommodate you. When you're asked to enter a date
for the earlier task, simply highlight the date of the LATER
task on the little pop-up calendar; then type "-XX" (where XX
is the number of days you wish to subtract from the later date).
FREQUENTLY SCHEDULED OR RECURRING EVENTS
In addition to scheduling events item by item, TickleX has the
ability to automatically log events that take place on a regular
basis. For instance, if you have a staff meeting every Tuesday at
12:00, you need not go to the trouble of setting each and every such
event.
To tell TickleX the events of which you would like to be reminded
regularly, press ^E (Ctrl-E) at the Main Menu. You'll be transferred
to EDITX, where you can set up a file containing your regular events.
When EDITX's menu appears, select "(F)requently Scheduled or Recurring
Events". This will take you into the RECUR.DAT file, where you may
enter up to 200 lines, each containing one event. Note that you may
use the tab key to align the cursor at the correct spot on each line
to make an entry.
The first item on each line is the Event's description. Enter up
to 37 characters.
The next item is the Month in which the event regularly occurs.
Enter the month as a number (1=JAN, 2=FEB, etc.). If the event occurs
EVERY month or if this item is not applicable, leave it blank.
Then comes the day of the month. If this item is not applicable,
leave it blank. "32" designates the LAST day of the month, regardless
of how long the month is. The last WORK day will be discussed below.
2 -- USING TICKLEX 23
The time of day items are next. If not applicable, leave these
items blank. Time should be entered without colons. If the time
you're entering is not within the standard working day (7AM-7PM), ap-
pend an "A" or a "P" to the time ("930" and "930A" both mean 9:30AM,
whereas "930P" means 9:30PM). You can avoid possible AM-PM confusion
if you use 24-hour time (9:30PM = 2130), as in the example below.
The time of day is followed by the type of event. Enter "M" for
Miscellaneous, "D" for Deadline, "A" for Appointment, etc. Center
your entry below the "Y" of "TYP".
The employee, if any, to whom this event applies should be en-
tered next. Start the entry under the "E" in "EMP".
The next several items correspond to the days of the week, Sunday
through Saturday. These items are used if the regular event you are
entering occurs on a specific day of the week, rather than on a speci-
fic date in the month. If the event always occurs on a Wednesday, for
example, you would make an entry directly below the "W". The entry
you make should be a number between 0 and 6. If the event always
falls on the first Monday of the month, enter a "1" beneath the "M".
If it falls on the third Friday, enter a "3" below "F". If it occurs
EVERY Wednesday, enter a "0" under the "W". If an event occurs on the
second and fourth Mondays, you should enter two separate lines identi-
cal in every way, except that one should list a "2" below the "M",
while the second should list a "4" below the "M". Remember, a "0"
indicates an occurrence on the SAME day EVERY week. A "6" indicates
an occurrence on the LAST specified weekday of the month. A "7" under
any of the specified days indicates the month's very last WORK day.
Take a look at the following example:
-FREQUENT OR RECURRING EVENT- MO DA TIME- TIME TYP EMP S M T W T F S
Julie's Birthday 1 17 M
Staff Meeting 0900 1000 M 0
Bowling Club Meeting 1900 2000 M 1 1
Bowling Club Meeting 1900 2000 M 1 3
@1900 Rotary Club Meeting 15 1930 2100 M 2
!! MEMORIAL DAY !! 5 M 6
month-end meeting 0730 0800 7
The first line reminds you of Julie's birthday on 17 January.
The second indicates a staff meeting that takes place every Tuesday
from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. The third and fourth lines remind employee 1
that the Bowling Club meets at 7:00PM every first Thursday and third
Tuesday of the month (don't combine these entries, trying to have one
line handle both a Tuesday and a Thursday). The fifth line is a Re-
minder for the Rotary Club meeting scheduled for the 15th of each
month from 7:30 to 9:00 PM, with an alarm set for 7:00 ("@xxxx" at the
beginning of an event description tells TickleX that you want an alarm
at time xxxx). The next-to-last line notes that Memorial Day falls on
2 -- USING TICKLEX 24
the last Monday in the fifth month (May). That line also demonstrates
that the LAST specified weekday in a month -- which may be either the
fourth or fifth such weekday -- is denoted by a "6" under the appro-
priate day, not by a "4" or a "5". The last line specifies the very
last WORK day (Monday to Friday) of the month. The "7" placed under
the "F" indicates, not the last FRIDAY, but the last WORK day ("6"
would mean the last Friday, but "7" means the last work day).
Scheduling a month's first Wednesday or fourth Friday is a snap,
as described above. But what if you want to schedule something on the
first Tuesday FOLLOWING the third Thursday of the month? Here, you
need to do something tricky. Fill in the line as if you were sched-
uling the third Thursday:
-FREQUENT OR RECURRING EVENT- MO DA TIME- TIME TYP EMP S M T W T F S
First Tues after third Thurs M 3
Now, you need a way to tell TickleX to find the fifth day after that
third Thurdsay (Tuesday follows Thursday by five days). To do so, put
the 5 beneath the DA item:
-FREQUENT OR RECURRING EVENT- MO DA TIME- TIME TYP EMP S M T W T F S
First Tues after third Thurs 5 M 3
-- Earliest and latest dates of occurrence
If you wish the recurring event to appear no earlier than a
certain date and no later than another, you should begin the event
description with a parenthetical sequence containing those dates. The
dates MUST be in this format: "MMDDYY-MMDDYY" (unless you've custom-
ized the program to accept the military/european DDMMYY-DDMMYY for-
mat). Each date must be exactly SIX digits, there must be a dash bet-
ween the two dates, and all this must be placed between an open and a
close parenthesis. For example, to schedule a 2:30-3:30 class every
Monday between 1 Sep 92 and 25 Nov 92, the line would read:
-FREQUENT OR RECURRING EVENT- MO DA TIME- TIME TYP EMP S M T W T F S
(090192-112592)Class 230 330 M 0
-- Events separated by a certain number of days
What if you have an event that happens every 14 or 21 days, not
necessarily every second or third week of the month? The answer is
simple, though not obvious. To enter an event that happens only once
every __ days, place the number of days under the first S (Sunday).
Then, you'll have to give TickleX a beginning date from which it can
figure each subsequent event's date. Enter the beginning date's month
and day under the MO and DAY items, and enter the last single digit of
its year JUST BEFORE the MO item. For example, to schedule something
2 -- USING TICKLEX 25
every 14 days, including January 15, 1993, the line should read:
-FREQUENT OR RECURRING EVENT- MO DA TIME- TIME TYP EMP S M T W T F S
meeting every other week 31 15 0730 0800 14
If such a regularly scheduled event is to span two or more days during
each occurrence, you would have aligned the "14" under M, T, W, T, F,
or S (for a 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, or 7-day duration). For example, to
schedule a three-day event every 28 days, including February 1, 1991,
the line should read:
-FREQUENT OR RECURRING EVENT- MO DA TIME- TIME TYP EMP S M T W T F S
3-day meeting (each 28 days) 12 1 0730 0800 28
Note that TickleX will accept recurring items of this nature only
if the beginning date you enter is within 5 years of the CURRENT date.
-- Events that occur every second or third month
What if you want to skip months? To make a recurring event hap-
pen every second, third, fourth or sixth month, you must make sure
that the month column is filled in with a month of the year during
which the event will take place. Then, you'll need to fill in column
64 (which has no heading) with the number of months to be skipped be-
tween recurrences of the event.
-- Holidays
Holidays are special types of recurring events. When you enter
one into the file, you should begin its description with an explan-
ation point. Doing so will allow the program to recognize the event
as a holiday. Hence, when you attempt to schedule an Appointment or
Reminder for that day, you will be reminded that it is a holiday and
asked whether you really wish to proceed with the entry. You are sim-
ilarly reminded of Saturdays and Sundays. If you wish to also be re-
minded of some other special event (such as your anniversary) whenever
you try scheduling an Appointment for that date, you should enter it
into this Frequent Events file (RECUR.DAT) with a leading explanation
point. See the final two lines of the example in the preceding sec-
tion.
-- Attaching a Note to a Recurring Event
If you wish to attach a note to a recurring event, enter it on
the line just following the event to which it refers. The note should
have all the same parameters as the event, except that the type will
be "N" (for "note"). In the following example, the second line will
be considered a note for the first line:
2 -- USING TICKLEX 26
-FREQUENT OR RECURRING EVENT- MO DA TIME- TIME TYP EMP S M T W T F S
Bowling Club Meeting 1900 2000 A 1 1
Meet at the Alley at 1815 1900 2000 N 1 1
-- Associating Recurring Events with Projects
If you wish to associate a recurring event with a project, place
the project name or number between two pound signs in the event des-
cription. For example, to a associate a bowling club meeting with the
project "FUN", the recurring event might be entered as follows:
-FREQUENT OR RECURRING EVENT- MO DA TIME- TIME TYP EMP S M T W T F S
Bowling Club Meeting #FUN# 1900 2000 A 1 1
-- Wrapping it All Up
Once you've entered all the frequent and recurring events you
wish, press F6 to save the file. TickleX will take over from there,
referring to this file each day to check for items that should be in-
cluded in your schedule. Whenever you prepare a schedule printout in
the Hunt routine, these items will appear at the appropriate places
(assuming that you don't do a "Quick Hunt", discussed below in the
"Hunting for Entries and Preparing Reports" section).
Remember that Frequent and Recurring Events can be changed or
omitted only in EDITX (by selecting ^E at the Main Menu). Any events
set up in this manner will appear on your schedule until the year
2065, unless you subsequently change them with EDITX.
TO-DO LIST
TickleX doesn't keep a "to-do" file, per se. Instead, it moves
all past-due Deadlines, Gotchas and Reminders to today's schedule.
After all, a to-do list is merely an itemization of things that need
to be done -- in other words, Deadlines (or Gotchas or Reminders).
You want to continue being reminded of these Deadlines until you
"check them off". In moving past-due Deadlines to the current date,
TickleX keeps reminding you to take care of them. Whenever you look
at today's list of events, you'll see EVERYTHING that needs to be
done, including things originally scheduled for today, as well as
Deadlines, Gotchas and Reminders from the past that haven't been
checked off yet.
ALL DEADLINES/GOTCHAS/REMINDERS THAT APPEAR ON TODAY'S SCHEDULE
ARE, IN EFFECT, YOUR TO-DO LIST. A single report, therefore, contains
both your schedule and the equivalent of a to-do list.
At the beginning of a new day, the program will search for each
2 -- USING TICKLEX 27
past-due Deadline/Gotcha/Reminder, display it for you, and ask whether
you want it to be tagged for omission. If your answer is negative,
that event will be added to today's schedule and will pop up the next
day, too. If, however, you want the event to be tagged for omission,
TickleX won't bother you with it in the future (in other words, it'll
be dropped from the "to-do" list).
Anytime you want to add something immediately to your "to-do"
list, simply enter a Deadline for TODAY. That Deadline will pop up
tomorrow and the next day, and the next ... until you tell TickleX to
tag it for omission. It couldn't be easier.
ALARMS
If you can afford to devote 35K of memory to a memory-resident
alarm program, then you might want to try PC-Beep, which accompanies
TickleX. PC-Beep automatically picks up alarms entered into TickleX,
whether set for today or for any date in the future. Up to 20 alarms
may be held in PC-Beep's daily cue.
When the time for each alarm is reached, the computer's speaker
will sound, "beep-beep", and the event set for that time will appear
in window. The window will stay on the screen until you press the ap-
propriate key, at which point you will be returned to whatever you
were doing before the alarm sounded. Pressing any of keys 1 to 9 will
cause the alarm to sound again in 1 to 9 minutes. The A, B, C & D
keys will tell PC-Beep to snooze for 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes. E, F,
G, or H are for 2, 3, 4, or 5 hours. If you press the space bar,
you'll be asked to enter a new alarm time manually, while the ESC key
will cause the alarm not to sound again at all.
If PC-Beep is already in memory when you load TickleX at the be-
ginning of each day, up to twenty alarms for that day will be passed
automatically from TickleX to PC-Beep. These alarms will correspond
to the new day's entries that were scheduled days or weeks (even
months or years) ago.
To find out how to schedule an alarm for a Recurring Event,
please see the "Frequently Scheduled or Recurring Events" section
above. Basically, all that's involved is beginning the event's des-
cription with "@xxxx", where xxxx is the alarm time, expressed in 24-
hr fashion (example: "@0930 Office Meeting") .
-- Loading PC-Beep
To use PC-Beep, make sure that it is located in the same direc-
tory as TickleX (the MANAGEX directory). To load the program, go to
the MANAGEX directory and enter "pc-beep" at the DOS prompt (make sure
that PC-Beep is loaded BEFORE TickleX). When you do so, the program
will be placed into memory, and you'll be returned to the DOS prompt.
2 -- USING TICKLEX 28
After that, the only time you'll know it's there is when it sounds an
alarm for you. It may not be accessed with a hotkey, but you can be
assured that whatever alarms you've already set in TickleX for today
will be in PC-Beep's cue. And whatever alarms you subsequently set in
either TickleX or RAMdesk (described at the end of this documentation)
will also be picked up by PC-Beep.
If you'd like PC-Beep to be loaded automatically when you load
TickleX, you'll need to modify the TX.BAT file. Find the line that
begins with "TICKLEX" and insert a line just above it that says "pc-
beep", followed by exactly the same sequence of parameters as are
found on the "TICKLEX" line. Then save the file. Thereafter, when-
ever you enter "TX xxx" (where xxx are your initials) at the DOS
prompt, PC-Beep will be loaded just before TickleX. You need to load
PC-Beep and TickleX only once each time you turn on the computer,
since PC-Beep will remain in memory as long as the machine has power.
PC-Beep takes up about 35K of memory, but if you can afford an-
other 7K, you can also place TickleX, itself into memory. Please see
the POP-UP TICKLEX chapter for details.
Remember, PC-Beep is memory-resident, and, as is the case with
other such programs, it may sometimes cause your computer to lock up.
PC-Beep cannot be loaded after certain other memory-resident software,
such as Sidekick. Therefore, you may have to modify your autoexec.bat
file, so that it will cause PC-Beep to be executed before some other
programs (if you do so, take the PC-Beep instructions out of TX.BAT).
-- Customizing PC-Beep
Accompanying TickleX is a file called RAMDESK.CFG. This file
contains several lines, each of which may be used to customize PC-
Beep. If a line is enclosed within curly brackets, it will have no
effect. As shipped, all lines begin with curly brackets, so the file
as a whole will not affect PC-Beep until you alter it.
To designate the primary colors used by PC-Beep, just find the
"FOREGROUND" and "BACKGROUND" lines and add the color codes you
desire:
0 Black 1 Blue 2 Green 3 Cyan
4 Red 5 Magenta 6 Brown 7 Light Gray
Be sure that the curly brackets are removed if you want these lines to
be effective.
The pitch of the alarm may be set by the "BEEP-FREQ" line. Fill
in the desired frequency (in hertz) after the equals sign on this
line. Note that some computer's can't reproduce very high or very low
pitches. Therefore, you might want to keep within the 100-5000 range.
The number of beeps emitted by your computer's speaker whenever
2 -- USING TICKLEX 29
an alarm sounds is determined by the "RINGS" line. If you enter "0"
after the equals sign, the alarm won't sound at all; "1" to "8" will
result in a corresponding number of beeps; if enter "9", the alarm
will continue to sound until you press a key.
If you'd like the alarm to go off on the hour, just remove the
brackets from the "CHIME-HOUR" line. No equals sign is needed. To
remind you, instead, of each passing half hour, remove the brackets
from the "CHIME-HOUR-HALF" line.
If you want PC-Beep to display time in 24-hour fashion, remove
the brackets on the "24-HOUR" line.
DO NOT CHANGE ANY OF THE RAMDESK.CFG LINES, EXCEPT THOSE
DISCUSSED ABOVE.
SIX-MONTH VIEW (and calendar calculator to find any day)
This option will allow you to see calendars for any six-month
period up to the year 2060. Simply press "S" at the Main Menu. The
current month will appear at the top-center of the screen. The pre-
ceding month will appear to its left, and the next four succeeding
months will appear to its right and below it. If you wish another
month to be centered at the top, enter at the prompt any date during
that month.
This option is particularly useful if you would like to see the
day of the week on which a particular date falls or if you need to
know the number of days between two dates. Assume, for instance, that
you want to know the day of the week for the date 55 days from now.
Press `S' to select this option. Then enter today's date, followed by
"+55" (eg: "12 DEC 88 +55"). The desired date will be displayed high-
lighted in the small calendar at the top center of the screen. To
find the number of days between two dates, enter the first date, then
a dash, then the second date (eg: "1 Jan 89 - 12 Mar 89").
To return to the Main Menu, press either ESC or RET. If you
press ESC, you will return to the exact point at which you left the
Main Menu. If, however, you press RET, the date highlighted on the
Main Menu will be the last date you used while you were in this Six-
Month view routine. Another possible use of this routine, therefore,
is to quickly skip several years forward or backward and press the RET
key. Whatever date you last use in this routine will be the date you
will find when you return to the Main Menu (unless you use the ESC
key).
WEEKLY VIEW
Press "W" at the Main Menu to reach this module. The week that
appears will be the one containing the date that was highlighted at
2 -- USING TICKLEX 30
the Main Menu (or the one whose daily detail you had been viewing).
You may change the week being shown by pressing the up or down arrows,
and you may move among individual days by pressing the left and right
arrows. Unless you press the ESC key, whatever date is highlighted
when you leave this module will be the one that is highlighted when
you return to the Main Menu (or the one to whose daily detail you re-
turn at the daily view).
There are actually three weekly views, between which you may tog-
gle by pressing the TAB key. The first view vertically breaks down
each day into half hour segments for the employee whose monthly or
daily calendar you had just been viewing. If there's time blocked off
during any given half-hour, the first ten characters in the event's
description will appear in that half-hour's block under the approp-
riate date.
The second view gives you a rough idea what time is scheduled for
each employee in the firm for each day of the week. This view might
be useful for quickly seeing how busy your firm's employees are during
a given week or for finding a date on which certain employees are all
free for an hour or two.
The third view will list the events for each day from Monday to
Friday, in priority order. This view will give you a quick idea of
what's coming up during that week.
To change the displayed employee, use the F3 key, just as you
would at the monthly or daily view. If you wish to return to today's
date, use the HOME key.
OMITTING EVENTS
Removing an event from TickleX's data base generally involves two
steps: tagging the event for omission, and then actually removing it
and all other events so tagged. The reason for requiring a prelimi-
nary tagging step to make it less likely that you'll accidentally re-
move an event by inadvertently hitting the wrong key. You see, you'll
always have the option of "untagging" an event previously tagged be-
fore the actual Omission (event-removing) routine is run.
-- Tagging Events for Omission
An event is most easily tagged (or "untagged") for omission by
pressing "T" at the Main Menu. It may also be tagged/untagged by
pressing ^T (Ctrl-T) while examining it in the Edit routine.
When "T" is pressed at the Main Menu, you'll be shown a list of
all events scheduled for the day you've specified. Just use the arrow
keys to highlight the event to be tagged and press RET. As you press
RET, "tag" (the omission tag indicator) will appear on that line
2 -- USING TICKLEX 31
at the left margin. If you were to press RET again, "tag" would
disappear and be replaced by a letter representing the type of event
shown on that line. Hence, RET is the switch that tags and "untags"
an event for omission.
If an event is tagged for omission, it will not be shown in any
report. It'll still be in the database, taking up space -- just in
case you ever want to "untag" it, but you won't actually see it unless
you enter this Tag/Untag routine or the Edit routine. If you ever
wish to "untag" an event already tagged, you'll need to go to the date
for which it was set and press "T" to enter the Tag/Untag routine or
"E" to enter the Edit routine. When you do so, all events for that
day, including those tagged for omission (but not actually omitted --
see next section), will be shown to you.
-- Actually Omitting Events, Plans, and Projects
In order to keep the main TickleX data file from growing too
large, you should periodically Omit old entries. Each month, for in-
stance, you should select the Omit option.
This mode allows you to omit scheduled/logged events, Plans, or
Projects that are no longer of any use. After pressing "O" at the
Main Menu, you'll be asked whether you want to omit Scheduled/logged
events, Plans or Listed projects. Simply press "S", "P" or "L", de-
pending upon which you wish to eliminate. Logged events are discussed
in CHAPTER 4 (LOG MODE).
If you press "S", you'll receive more instruction on the screen
before you proceed. You will be asked the date before which you wish
all entries to be omitted. All events (other than Deadlines not yet
met) falling before that date will be omitted, WHETHER OR NOT they
have been tagged for omission. Also omitted will be those events
which fall after that date and which are tagged for omission.
Deadlines are a special matter. Because you may occasionally
miss Deadlines whose subjects you do not want to forget, TickleX will
continue to hold all Deadlines not specifically tagged for omission
in the Edit routine. Hence, Deadlines will always be preserved (to
continue to remind you to do things) until you make a conscious ef-
fort to omit them. You'll have to be diligent in tagging Deadlines
that have been met; otherwise, they'll just keep piling up.
If you choose to omit Plans, instead of Events, you'll be shown a
list of all the Plans available on your machine. Enter the name of
the one that you want to omit, or press RET to eliminate a general
Template, instead.
If you choose to omit Listed projects, you'll be shown a list of
your projects. After you select one for omission, you'll be asked
whether you want to tag for omission all events linked to that pro-
2 -- USING TICKLEX 32
ject. After all, do you really need to keep those events in your data
base if the project to which they refer is no longer there? If you
choose to tag them for omission, remember, they'll only be TAGGED, not
actually omitted. To actually eliminate them, you'll need to visit
this Omit routine again.
NOTE:
Don't forget that you can "untag" any of them before go-
ing through the Omit routine. The easiest way would be to
conduct a "Full-Screen" Hunt for everything in the database
pertaining to a specific project. As each event pops up onto
the screen, press ^T (Ctrl-T) to tag/untag it.
HUNTING FOR ENTRIES and PREPARING REPORTS
If you press "H" while in the Main Menu, you will be taken to a
Hunt Gates display. Here, you are to select the gates you want to
apply to the search through the calendar file. The Hunt Gates allow
passage of only those records which contain information consistent
with the Hunt Gate parameters you select. For example, if you wanted
to find all the events that involve a certain employee, you would
place the appropriate ID at gate C. To find all events between cer-
tain dates, place the beginning date at gate D and the ending date at
gate E. You may search for specific events by filling in gate B,
while filling in gate A will result in a report listing only those
events that apply to a specific Project (or Case, if you're also using
BillPower or ManageX).
The more gates you fill in, the more discriminating the hunt
through the records will be. If you leave the gates in their default
conditions, ALL of today's events involving ALL employees and ALL
projects will be reported.
Hunts for projects (or cases) and events may be made on the basis
of partial entries. For instance, if you wished to find all events
involving the "Smith-1" and "Smith-2" project, you would need to enter
only "Smith" at gate A. All events tied to projects containing the
character string, "Smith", would be shown to you. Included among the
events reported might also those involving the "J. Smith" and "Black-
smith" projects.
Following the above example, you could also have chosen to
search for projects (or cases) containing "ith". If you had done so,
in addition to all the projects mentioned above, you might also have
come across the "Ithica" and "Lithe Forms" projects.
NOTE:
Suppose you elect to enter "SMITH" at the Project (or
Case Number) gate. If there were more than one project con-
tain that sequence of characters, they would all pass
through that gate. Hence, SMITH, SMITH-J, BLACKSMITHJ,
2 -- USING TICKLEX 33
etc., would all be selected by TickleX for the hunt report.
If, however, you wanted only SMITH to pass through the gates
(to the exclusion of SMITH-J and BLACKSMITH), you would have
to tell TickleX. You would do this by ending your "SMITH"
entry with ^E (for "Exact match"), instead of the usual RET.
If a Project/Case gate is set up for an exact match, a note
will appear to the right, saying, "* exact *". If no such
note is displayed, then ALL projects whose designations contain
matches for the entered character sequence will pass through
the gate. If the "* exact *" note is shown, then only the
project that exactly matches that character sequence will be
reported.
Remember, any gate that is left blank will be considered to be
open, allowing ANY record to pass through. In other words, each
record will be deemed to meet that gate's criterion, and, assuming
that all the other gates' criteria are also met, will be displayed
during the hunt.
To you don't want Deadlines reported to you, make gate F "NO" by
pressing the F key. If you press the F key again, you'll change it
back to "YES". The same principle applies to Appointments, Reminders,
etc. (gates G to L).
To change the report destination from screen to printer or disk
file, press P. Pressing ^P (Ctrl-P) will allow you to change the des-
tination disk file name. To send the report to an alternate printer
port, press the number corresponding to that port. To send it out COM
port 1, press ^A (Ctrl-A); ^B (Ctrl-B) will send the report to COM
port 2.
The METHOD by which TickleX conducts its hunt depends upon how
you have set Gate M, which toggles among "Quick Hunt" and "Chronolog-
ical Hunt". Normally, you will want a chronological hunt, so that the
reported events appear in the correct order. However, if you're look-
ing through a large range of dates, you may find that a chronological
hunt is too slow for you. If you want to speed things up, press the M
key to select a Quick Hunt. If Quick Hunt is in operation, TickleX
will NOT put things into chronological order, but it will find what
you're looking for quickly. This feature is particularly valuable if
you're looking for a Deadline sometime in the distant future, but you
aren't sure of even the year that it was scheduled. To do so, simply
select a Quick Hunt, and be sure to fill in the other Hunt Gates op-
tions as well as you can (to narrow the search, keeping too many un-
wanted events from appearing on the screen). But remember that Fre-
quent or Recurring dates will not appear during Quick Hunts.
The TYPE OF HUNT produced depends upon how you have set Gate N,
which toggles among several choices. A "Continuous Hunt" quickly goes
through the data base and reports what it finds. It may go so fast
that you can't follow it (unless you press the space bar to pause).
An alternative is the "Day-By-Day" hunt which steps through the data
2 -- USING TICKLEX 34
base on day at a time, automatically pausing after each day's activi-
ties are reported. Pressing the down arrow will cause the next day's
events to print. The up arrow causes the prior day's activities to
print again. The "Day-By-Day and Employee-By-Employee" hunt is like
the "Day-By-Day" hunt, except that it breaks the hunt down even fur-
ther, reporting a single employee's events for a day, and then paus-
ing until you press the up or down arrow. A "Priority Order" report
will place each day's events into priority order, lowest number first
(the priority number will be listed on a Standard report at the left
margin, right after the event type). The "Project-by-Project" report
(not available if you also have BillPower) will report one project's
events, then the next's, and so on. A final type of hunt is "Event-
by-Event", and it will be selected automatically by TickleX if you
have chosen either a "Full-Screen Edit" (discussed below) report or a
"Quick Hunt".
The TYPE OF REPORT produced depends upon how you have set Gate O,
which allows you to toggle among "Standard", "Full Screen Edit", "Time
Scheduled", "Event Chart", "Printed Daily Schedule", and "Printed
Calendar", each of which is described below.
Once the Hunting process begins, you will be shown the data for
each record conforming to the Hunt gates you have established. If
you have chosen to display a "Standard" report (gate O), data for
each conforming record will appear on a single line. The program will
then automatically search for the next conforming record, display it,
then look for the next one, and so on. You may make the program
pause in its searching by pressing the space bar. Pressing ESC
will abort the hunting process.
If you have chosen the "Full-Screen" report (gate O), the data
shown for each conforming record will appear on a screen identical to
that used in the Edit mode. Only one conforming file's data will be
displayed on the screen at one time. Unlike the Standard report rou-
tine, this one will not search for the next conforming file unless you
press F6 to indicate that you wish to move on. If you want to abort
the Hunt routine, press ESC instead of F6.
If, while in the Hunt mode's Full-Screen summaries display, you
see some information that should be changed, you may edit it as if
you were in the Edit mode. There will be a few limitations on your
ability to edit directly from the Hunt mode, but don't worry about
them; TickleX will call your attention to them only if you attempt to
violate them.
If you have chosen a "Time Scheduled" report (gate O), each line
will contain a date and a series of D's, A's, etc. Each letter cor-
responds to a 15-minute block of time during which an event is sched-
uled. Here's an example:
Date 7...8...9...10..11..12..1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8
FRI 3 FEB 89 ....AA....AA........EEEE..AAAAAAA....................
2 -- USING TICKLEX 35
TUE 7 FEB 89 ........AAAA........AAAA..........EE.................
WED 8 FEB 89 .....................................................
THU 9 FEB 89 ....................AAAA.............................
Here, you can see that there are things scheduled on 3 February in the
8:00-8:14 and the 8:15-8:29 blocks. 9:30 to 9:59 also has something
scheduled, as do 12:00-12:59 and 1:30-3:14. Note that the dates be-
tween 4-6 Feb are not listed. Skipping dates occurs when those dates
contain no scheduled events that meet the parameters specified by Hunt
Gates A-G (filled in before the hunt began). Note also that, though 8
February is listed, nothing appears on its line. A date's line will be
blank if there is SOMETHING scheduled for that date, but nothing that
requires blocking off time. A Deadline that has no beginning or end-
ing times is an example of an event that would not cause a D to appear
on the line.
NOTE:
TickleX assumes that an event with no ending time is
not intended to be "blocked off". Hence, you might have sev-
eral Deadlines scheduled for 11:00 (no ending time), without
TickleX's recognizing that those events should be blocked
off. Only if an ending time is different from a beginning
time will TickleX block off time for that event, and only in
that case will the "Time Scheduled" report display an A, D,
etc., for that event.
The last thing printed on a "Time Scheduled" report will be a
employee-by-employee breakdown of the total hours hours scheduled.
The only time blocks included in this breakdown will be those that
were included in the preceding report. If you have set your Hunt
Gates to be extremely selective, the breakdown totals will probably be
small. This breakdown may be useful to find how many hours you've
scheduled someone to work over a given span of days or weeks. If you
consistently schedule work (and ONLY work) as an Exercise and you
set the Hunt Gates to include only Exercises, the breakdown summary
will tell you how many hours have been scheduled for only Exercises
(which, in this case, substitute for "work scheduled").
-- Event chart
This report consists of a chart showing each event on a separate
line. Each line contains a brief event description, followed by a
graphic representation (in the form of a dotted line) of the period
during which that event is to take place. The events included on the
chart depend upon how you've set up your Hunt Gates.
-- Printed daily schedule
Here, TickleX will print one day's summarized schedule per page.
The report will include a blank line for each half-hourly time block
during which nothing is currently scheduled. Additions to the sched-
2 -- USING TICKLEX 36
ule may, thus, be filled in by hand and entered into the computer lat-
er. One of this report's uses is to print pages for inclusion in
loose-leaf schedule books that can be carried "on the road". With
some imagination and the the right combination of printer, paper, and
notebook, this can be a very useful report.
-- Printed calendars (weekly, monthly, yearly)
Each of these reports consists of a calendar printed on a sheet
of paper. In order for the calendars to be properly prepared, you
must make sure that lines 1 to 6 of the PRNTINIT file have been cus-
tomized for your specific printer. If PRNTINIT hasn't been custom-
ized, these "Printed Calendar" options may not even appear. To edit
the PRNTINIT file, use EDITX (press ^E at the Main Menu). That file,
itself, contains instructions on how it is to be filled in.
The calendar prepared with this option will look like a standard
paper calendar. The minimum period for which a weekly or monthly cal-
endar will be printed is one week. Each day's block will be filled in
with whatever events are stored in the data base for that date.
Just before a monthly calendar begins printing, you'll have to
specify how wide and how long each day's block is to be. It's recom-
mended that you stick with the defaults that appear, but you may
change them if you wish.
In order to conserve space for as many events as possible on a
monthly calendar, you may wish to limit the space devoted to each
event to one line. To do so, you'll be able to tell the program to
truncate each event at the end of one line. If you wish to print the
entire event, even if it takes more than one line to do so, you'll
need to specify either word wrap or character wrap. Character wrap
will split a word falling at the end of a line, while word wrap will
move that entire word down to the next line (and, in the process,
waste a little space).
-- Other Reports
If TickleX knows that you're using a printer comptatible with the
Hewlett Packard Laser Jet (see the SETTING UP section of CHAPTER 1),
you will be offered some other reporting options. Give them a try to
see if they will fit your needs.
-- Custom reports
There is a sixth report option not discussed above: Custom Re-
ports. If you select gate O several times, you'll cycle through the
Standard, Full-Screen, and Time Scheduled report choices. If, how-
ever, you want a Custom Report, press ^O (Ctrl-O), instead of just
"O". Pressing ^O tells TickleX that you want a Custom Report pre-
pared. The screen will clear, you'll be shown a list of all the Cus-
tom Reports presently on the disk, and you'll be expected to enter the
2 -- USING TICKLEX 37
name of the particular Custom Report you want to prepare. If you
don't want a Custom Report, just press RET to return to the Hunt Gate
screen.
Custom Reports are useful for such things as preparing training
schedules and work plans. They are available on the in TickleX's
"Schedule" mode, but not its "Log" mode.
When you just start using the program, the only Custom Report
present will be one called "SAMPLE1". Though this report's primary
purpose is to act as an example for others you may develop, it may
also actually be used. To set up other report templates, use EDITX
(by pressing ^E at the Main Menu).
In EDITX, you'll be afforded the opportunity to create as many
Custom Report templates as you like. Each time you create a new one,
the contents of SAMPLE1 will be initially copied into it, so that
you'll have some guidance. You'll note that a report template con-
sists of many lines, some beginning with "{", and some not. Those
that begin with "{" are comment lines and MUST NOT BE ALTERED. If you
change a comment line in any way, the resulting report may not print
as you expect. The only lines you may alter are the data lines, those
that do NOT begin with "{".
A data line consists of spaces, characters, words, and/or tilde
codes. Pressing the F1 key will give you a listing of what each av-
ailable tilde code means. There's one for an event's beginning time,
one for it's ending time, one for the event description, and so, on.
There are also a few that represent the hunt gates you've selected.
For instance, wherever ~s appears in the report template, TickleX
will substitute the beginning date of the hunt in the actual printed
report. ~u will cause TickleX to print the employee ALL of whose
events are being sought in the hunt, while ~o will tell the program to
print an INDIVIDUAL event's responsible employee.
Let's now look at your data line options. First, you should note
that SAMPLE1 is only an example. You need not stick blindly to it's
format (except for those lines that begin with "{"). You may even
erase entire data lines if you don't want their contents to appear on
the report.
The data line for PRINTER INITIALIZATION allows you to enter an
escape character sequence for your printer. This might be useful to
move the margin over, to alter the printer's type style, or to turn on
graphics. If you want to use this line, get the appropriate code from
your printer's manual and enter it as a CHARACTER sequence, not as a
numerical code. If, for instance, the code you want to enter is
"ESCAPE o", you should enter the escape CHARACTER, followed immediate-
ly by an "o". Don't type in "ESC o". To enter any control character
(ESCAPE is a control character), press ^P (Ctrl-P) and then press the
control character you want to enter. For instance, to enter the es-
cape character, you actually press ^P, and then press the escape key.
2 -- USING TICKLEX 38
After you do so, a funny character (such as a left arrow) will appear
on the screen. Just pressing the escape key won't work. Don't des-
pair -- this sounds more complicated than it is.
NOTE:
If you utilize the PRINTER INITIALIZATION data line,
your printer will maintain that setting until it's reset or
turned off. If you want TickleX to reset your printer to
some state other than that established with the PRINTER IN-
ITIALIZATION line, you should enter the reset escape charac-
ter sequence into line 1 of the PRNTINIT file supplied with
TickleX. To edit the PRNTINIT file, use EDITX (^E at the
Main Menu).
The data line for LENGTH OF PAGE allows you to print your reports
on paper of a length different from the standard 66 lines. For ins-
tance, you might want to print a report with the paper turned side-
ways. Just measure in inches of the paper you'll use and multiply by
6. 8-inch paper, for instance, would be entered as 48. 11-inch paper
is 66 lines long.
WIDTH OF PAGE tells TickleX how many characters it can expect to
print on each line. The default is a page width of 80 characters, but
you may modify this if you're using an appropriate printer. If the
PRINTER INITIALIZATION you entered, for instance, turns on your
printer's 132-column capability, you should enter 132 here.
NOTE:
EDITX cannot handle lines wider than 79 columns. If
you want to create a report with more columns than that,
you'll have to "double up". Use two lines in EDITX for each
single report line that will be more than 79 columns wide.
In order to tell TickleX that these two lines are to be com-
bined, make the last character on the first line a "+". For
example, two lines entered as
Mary had a little lamb, it+
s fleece was white as snow.
would be printed by TickleX as a single line, "Mary had a
little lamb, its fleece was white as snow." Note that Tick-
leX allows combining only two lines at a time into one.
Three consecutive lines can't be combined into one, but three
consecutive two-line sets can can be combined into three lines.
The HEADER data lines are used to prepare the beginning of the
report. You might, for instance, want to include your name and the
title of the report in the HEADER. Up to 10 lines may be included.
The 2D HEADER data lines (up to 5) are those that will print at
the top of each page following the first (which contains the HEADER).
2 -- USING TICKLEX 39
The FORMAT data line tells TickleX what specific schedule infor-
mation you want printed on each line, as well as the spacing between
each item. Note that each item requires a minimum amount of space.
The spacing information is obtained by pressing F1 if you're using
EDITX. If you're using your word processor, you'll want to refer to
the tilde code table below:
Event items:
~j=event type (1) (eg: appnt,deadline)
~k=beginning date (9) ~l=ending date (9)
~m=beginning time (5) ~n=ending time (5)
~o=employee/department (3) ~p=project or case number (12)
~q=event description (37) ~r=notes (56)
~R=carriage return
Hunt items:
~s=beginning date of hunt (9) ~t=ending date of hunt (9)
~u=specific employee being hunted (3) ~v=specific date being hunted (9)
~w=day of week for hunted date (3)
The FOOTER data lines (up to 5) consist of any footnotes, etc.,
that you want to be printed at the bottom of the report.
The DATE CHANGE data lines (up to 3) are, of course, optional.
If present, they will be printed whenever TickleX reaches a point in
the report when a date change occurs.
The EMPLOYEE/DEPARTMENT CHANGE data lines (up to 2), if present,
will be printed whenever the employee being hunted changes. If you
have anything filled in here, the report will be organized by both
date and employee. As TickleX comes to each date, it will break
it's hunt into a sub-hunt for the first employee's events, then a
sub-hunt for the second employee's, and so on.
If you're unable to design a template for the exact report you
want, do as well as you can with either EDITX or your word processor.
Just before you begin a hunt using this template, press ALT-F (to tog-
gle the report to a disk file, instead of to the printer). After the
report has been written to disk (into a file called TEXT.MX), exit
TickleX. Edit TEXT.MX with your word processor, so that the report
looks EXACTLY as you want it to. Then print it with your word proces-
sor.
FINDING FREE TIME
If you need to schedule something that requires a certain amount
of time, but you don't know when your busy schedule will allow it,
press "F" at the Main Menu. You'll be asked to specify how many con-
tiguous hours (eg: 2, .5, 5.25) you need to accomplish the task.
Then, tell TickleX who's schedule you want it to search, and give the
program the earliest and latest dates you want to consider for the
2 -- USING TICKLEX 40
accomplishment of the task. TickleX will then search through those
dates for the amount of free time you've specified. When it finds it,
you'll be shown that day's schedule and told which time frame meets
your needs. If that time block isn't satisfactory, press RETurn to
find the next available period. When you find a period that you want
to use, press the "M" key to Make a new event record.
If you wish to find the time that several people/facilities are
free at once, specify them all when asked to enter an employee. Be
sure to separate each by a comma (eg: "ABC,DEF,GHI,JKL" will tell
TickleX that you wish to the time blocks that ABC, DEF, GHI, and JKL
are all available at once.
By default, this routine will search each day between 8:30 AM and
5:30 PM. If your working hours are significantly different, you can
customize the program to use them instead. See the SETTING UP section
of CHAPTER 1 for a discussion of Workday Begin and End Times.
By the way, the Weekly Views offer another, more visual means of
quickly finding free time. See the "Weekly View" section above.
RE-SCHEDULING SEVERAL EVENTS QUICKLY
If you want to move several events currently scheduled for a par-
ticular date to a new date, you should press "R" at the TickleX
Schedule Main Menu to enter the "re-scheduling". When you do, you'll
be asked to select the date FROM which you wish to move the events and
the date TO which they're to be moved. Then, a listing of all the
events currently scheduled for the "FROM" date will be shown, and
you'll be expected to identify the first event to be moved. Simply
use the cursor control keys to move to that event and press RET. The
selected event will be quickly rescheduled for the "TO" date. Then,
you'll be expected to identify the next event to be moved. Repeat
this identification process until you've moved all the desired events.
To abort the process and return to the Schedule Main Menu, press ESC.
STOPWATCH
If you would like to user TickleX's stopwatch to time an
activity, press the "\" key at the Main Menu. When you do, the
stopwatch will begin displaying elapsed time near the top right corner
of the screen. Pressing "\" again will cause the timer to stop. At
this point, you may press: 1) ESC to cease timing the activity; 2) "C"
to cause the timing to continue as if it had never been interrupted;
or 3) "S" to temporarily suspend the timing until you press the "\"
key again to resume the timing.
When you invoke it by pressing "\", the stopwatch will continue
timing, no matter what you do within TickleX, until you press "\" a
second time at the Main Menu. In fact, if you have TickleX loaded as
2 -- USING TICKLEX 41
a memory-resident program, the timing will continue while you're
working within other software.
MORNING STARTUP
When you first start up the program each day, TickleX will search
for old events to bring forward. All Deadlines/Gotchas/Reminders from
past dates which have not already been tagged for omission will be
brought forward so that they will not be lost during an Omission rou-
tine. Then, you will be asked whether you want TickleX to give you a
report of the day's events. Therefore, a day will not go by without
your having been prompted at least once to prepare a printout of up-
coming events. Answering `Y' to this prompt will bring you into this
Hunt routine, where you can select the exact parameters (gates) for
the listing to be prepared.
2 -- USING TICKLEX 42
UTILITIES (BACKUP, RESTORE, PRINTER DRIVERS, ETC)
Pressing "U" at the Main Menu will take you to the UTILITIES mod-
ule. Here, you may backup your data to disks placed into drive A,
restore such backed-up data, or visit the PRNTDRVR program to tell
TickleX what type of printer you have.
If you press "B", TickleX will automatically execute DOS's BACKUP
program that came with your computer, assuming that a copy of it is in
the MANAGEX directory. If you prefer to use another program to per-
form your backups, you may create a file called "BACKUP.DAT" with
EDITX (^E from the Main Menu). Into this file you may place only a
single line, which will contain the command to execute your alternate
backup program. If a BACKUP.DAT file exists, TickleX will execute
whatever program the file specifies, instead of DOS's BACKUP.
If you press "R", TickleX will automatically execute DOS's
RESTORE program that came with your computer, assuming that a copy of
it is in the MANAGEX directory. If you prefer to use another program
to restore your data, you may create a file called "RESTORE.DAT" with
EDITX. Into this file you may place only a single line, which will
contain the command to execute your alternate restoration program. If
a RESTORE.DAT file exists, TickleX will execute whatever program the
file specifies, instead of DOS's RESTORE.
If you press "P", TickleX's PRNTDRVR (print driver) program will
be executed. With it, you may specify the particular printer you use,
so that TickleX will be able to do the "Printed Calendar" report that
involves the use of IBM-graphics characters. Or you may specify a
special printer initialization sequence (to change margins, fonts,
etc.) that should be sent to your printer before any reports are pre-
pared.
If you press "C", you'll be taken to the customization routine,
where you may specify employee initials, screen colors, lines to print
per page, laser printer, 24-hour time, etc.
"E" will take you to the EDITX.EXE program, so that you may edit
various text files, such as the ones containing Frequent & Recurring
Events, Income-Expense Categories, Groups, etc.
"O" will take you through the program's routine to omit items
from the data base. Scheduled and logged items, projects, and plans
may be omitted here.
"I" will cause the Schedule and Log databases to be re-indexed.
This is a drastic measure that should be used ONLY as a last resort if
your database becomes corrupted. Because this routine may drastically
alter the database if there are many problems, you should attempt res-
toring from backup diskettes before you try re-indexing.
3 -- UTILITIES 43
LOG MODE
All the preceding discussions have basically concerned using
TickleX as a scheduler. But it's also capable logging things that
have actually taken place, as opposed to things that have been merely
scheduled. It can be used to log services performed, income, and ex-
penses.
Remember, TickleX is primarily a scheduler. The logging func-
tions are designed for the user who simply wants a convenient place to
register his income, expenses, and the hours he's worked on various
projects. Thought its reporting ability is quite flexible, it's not
designed to produce client reports or bills. If you need those re-
ports, you should use a program specifically designed for billing
and/or bookkeeping, such as BillPower.
You may move to TickleX's LOG mode by pressing ^L (Ctrl-L) when
the Schedule Main Menu is displayed (^S will take you back to the
SCHEDULE mode). If you're in the LOG mode, you won't be dealing with
Appointments, Deadlines, etc. Instead, your choices will be Services,
Disbursements, and Receipts. Most everything else, though, is the
same in both the SCHEDULE and LOG modes.
A Service is work performed, a Disbursement is an expense (money
you've spent), and a Receipt is income you've received. If you wish
to keep accurate records of the hours worked on each of your projects,
you should be conscientious in entering a Service whenever you spend
time on one of them. The same goes for tracking income and expenses
attributable to each project.
When you enter a Receipt or Disbursement, one of the items you
can fill in is the category into which the income or expense falls.
If you enter a category whenever you input a Receipt or Disbursement,
TickleX will be able to produce an accurate report, by category, of
all your income and expenses over any period of time. By the way,
pressing F1 here will result in a display of the income/expense
categories.
TickleX keeps a list of your income-expense categories in a file
called INCEXPNS.DAT, which can be accessed with EDITX by pressing ^E
at the Main Menu. This file is provided in sample form with the
TickleX program, and you'll have to modify it to suit your own needs.
The file may hold up to 200 lines, each line containing a 1-to 3- dig-
it category number and a 1-to 25-character category description. As
you modify the file, make sure that the numbers and descriptions you
enter line up exactly with the headings at the top of the screen.
Note that there may be no blank lines in the file, and every that line
must contain both a number and a description. Failure to follow these
simple rules will have undesirable effects.
When you're in TickleX's LOG mode, entering a Receipt or Dis-
bursement, the program won't let you enter a category number that is
4 -- LOG MODE 44
not described in the INCEXPNS.DAT file. If you can't remember the
number of the category you need to fill in, just place the cursor be-
neath the "Cat" item and press the F1 key. You'll be shown the con-
tents of the INCEXPNS.DAT file. Remember, F1 gives you help anywhere
within the TickleX program.
When you want a report on the total disbursements, receipts, and
hours worked on any or all of your projects, just conduct a Hunt. At
the end of each chronological "Standard" report, these totals will
appear. If, for instance, you want a year-to-date listing, by cate-
gory, of all your income and expenses, set Hunt gates D and E appro-
priately and begin the hunt.
TickleX is capable of holding 12000 disbursement, receipt, and
service entries (in addition to the 12000 appointments, deadlines,
etc., that it can hold). When this capacity is reached, you'll have
to go through the Omit routine to eliminate old entries (as well as
current ones that you may have tagged for omission), thus freeing
space for new entries. Before TickleX eliminates entries, it will of-
fer you the chance to obtain a printout of the old items that will be
omitted. You are urged to take this opportunity to produce a perman-
ent record.
-- Using the Service Stopwatch
If, while entering a new service, you want TickleX to automatic-
ally keep time for you, press the "\" key to begin the Service Stop-
watch. When the stopwatch is first invoked, the Begin Time will
automatically be entered for you. Pressing "\" again will stop the
timer and cause the End Time to be entered for you.
If you wish, you may leave the Service record before pressing "\"
a second time. To do so, just press F6. When you want to complete
the record, simply press "M" to make a new record and then "S" (for
"Service"). Instead of creating a new Service record, TickleX will
cause the incomplete one to reappear. When it does, press "\" to
cause the End Time to be filled in. Then, make any other changes you
wish, and press F6 to save it in its completed form. Note that this
feature is useful only if TickleX has been loaded as a memory-resident
program.
-- Zipping Completed Events to the Log
Many people like to use their calendars not only as schedulers of
future events, but also as permanent records of things that they've
done. When these people want to know what they did on a particular
past date, they might go to their calendar and look up the events they
had scheduled for that date. These will tend to assume that what they
had scheduled for that date is what they actually did. In many cases,
though, that's an erroneous assumption. That's one reason that Tick-
4 -- LOG MODE 45
leX maintains separate data bases for its SCHEDULE and LOG.
However, if you're one who generally does what he is scheduled to
do, you may find it useful to quickly zip scheduled items to TickleX's
LOG. That will save you the time that would otherwise be spent enter-
ing a LOG item that is essentially identical to a SCHEDULE item.
If you press "Z" at the Main Menu, the screen will clear, and
you'll be given the opportunity to select the date whose scheduled
events you wish to zip to the LOG. The only dates that TickleX will
accept are: today and earlier.
Then you will review each item scheduled for the selected date
and tell TickleX whether it has been completed. If you tell TickleX
that the item has been completed, the item will be copied to the LOG
(and then tagged for omission here in the SCHEDULE). Items previously
tagged for omission will not be displayed for you during this proce-
dure. Nor will either "Frequent and Recurring Events" or multi-day
events.
4 -- LOG MODE 46
POP-UP TICKLEX
You may find it convenient to have TickleX available at all
times. Let's say that you're using your word processor and suddenly
need to look at your calendar or schedule an appointment. Normally,
you'd have to save your document, exit the word processor, and then
load TickleX. Then, when you're done with TickleX, you have to exit
it, load your word processor, find your document and continue with
what you were doing before accessing TickleX.
Wouldn't it be convenient if you could just press a couple of
keys to call up TickleX, even when you're in the middle of using your
word processor? Well, you can, as long as you follow the instructions
contained in this chapter.
TickleX must first be loaded into memory, where it will linger in
the background until you press a "hot-key" combination to call it to
the screen. When you do so, whatever the computer was just doing will
be suspended and placed into the background, while TickleX is brought
to the screen. When you've taken care of your TickleX business, press
the ESC key. Doing so will force TickleX back into the background
(where it will lurk until you press the hot-key again), while your
prior work will pop back into the foreground (onto the screen).
To prime TickleX for pop-up (memory-resident) service, simply
enter "TX xxx MR" (where xxx are your initials), instead of just "TX
xxx", at the DOS prompt. If that doesn't work, you'll need to copy
the TX.BAT to a file called TXMR.BAT and modify the new file. TX.BAT
should be used for standard use, while TXMR.BAT will be used for in-
voking TickleX as a pop-up. Now, find the line in TXMR.BAT that
starts with "TICKLEX". The tenth parameter following "TICKLEX" should
be "MR". If you need to "pad" the line with any other parameters,
make each of them an "x". Examples:
TICKLEX x x x x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB x MR 1
TICKLEX x x x x x x x x x MR
Each example shows the use of dummy "x" parameters.
If TickleX is loaded in this fashion, it will automatically abort
and display a message that informs you of the hot-key combination
needed to call it to the foreground. By default, the hot-key is ALT-
T. But you may change the hot-key by adding to the 10th parameter a
different combination, using the "MR-X-$YYZZ" format. The "X" in this
format is the key you wish to use in combination with the ALT or CTRL
key. "YY" should be "08" if you plan to use the ALT-key, or "04" if
you prefer a CTRL-key combination. "ZZ" is the scan code for the let-
ter you've designated with "X". Selected scan codes follow:
KEY SCAN KEY SCAN KEY SCAN KEY SCAN KEY SCAN
Q 10 W 11 E 12 R 13 T 14
Y 15 U 16 I 17 O 18 P 19
5 -- POP-UP TICKLEX 47
A 1E S 1F D 20 F 21 G 22
H 23 J 24 K 25 L 26 Z 2C
X 2D C 2E V 2F B 30 N 31
For example, to designate ALT-S as the hot-key combination, the tenth
parameter would be "MR-S-$081F", while CTRL-V would be selected by
using "MR-V-$042F".
If you'd like TickleX's pop-up alarm (PC-Beep) to be loaded into
memory also, you should add a line to the TX.BAT (or TXMR.BAT) file
just before the "TICKLEX" line. This new line should say simply, "pc-
beep". If PC-Beep is loaded, whatever alarms you've set with TickleX
will beep at you at the appointed times. Without PC-Beep, alarms
aren't possible.
Normally, TickleX requires about 400 Kilobytes of RAM. When it's
just waiting in the background, however, all it consumes is about 45
Kilobytes, leaving most of your computer's memory for use by other
programs. And if you don't need TickleX's alarm feature, you can re-
duce the RAM requirements to 7 Kilobytes by eliminating all references
to PC-Beep in the TX.BAT (or TXMR.BAT) file and ensuring that it isn't
loaded at any time while you use the computer.
-- Tuning up Performance
As mentioned above, TickleX is a large program that would consume
about 400K of memory if the entire software were kept in memory wait-
ing for you to press the hotkey. But that would leave you with 400K
less memory to run your other applications. Therefore, efforts have
been made to reduce the memory required by the program when it's lur-
king in the background. On the assumption that memory is more pre-
cious to most users than is time, TickleX has been optimized to use as
little memory as possible, even though that means that it might take a
little longer for it to respond when you press its hotkey.
Rather than keep TickleX's entire code in memory when you're
using another program, only a small "kernel" is maintained in RAM.
When you press the hotkey, your current application is saved to disk
or EMS (LIM-specification expanded memory), and then TickleX is loaded
from disk or EMS. When you temporarily exit TickleX, it is then
saved, while your former application is re-loaded. The memory-swap-
ping that takes place whenever you enter or exit TickleX will take
time. How much swapping time is required depends upon whether the
swapping is to your hard disk or to memory.
If TickleX recognizes that you have sufficient EMS memory avail-
able (400K), such memory will automatically be used, minimizing swap
time significantly. If no EMS is recognized, the program will assume
that you want it to swap to the disk directory from which TickleX was
loaded. If you have EMS and TickleX does not recognize it, please
don't call to report it; there are several incompatible EMS schemes
5 -- POP-UP TICKLEX 48
floating around, and TickleX can't recognize them all.
If you don't have EMS, but do have extended memory, you might
want to set up a large RAM disk and tell TickleX to use it for swap-
ping. That'll speed things up quite a bit. Make sure that the RAM
disk you use will be used for NOTHING other than TickleX, BillPower
and/or RAMdesk.
How big a RAM disk do you need? If you're using it just for Tic-
kleX, it should be at least 1M. Add another 825K if you also want
to install BillPower as a pop-up, and yet another 320K if you use RAM-
desk.
To tell TickleX which RAM disk to use, you'll need to alter the
TX (or TXMR.BAT) file. Place the RAM disk designation at the third
parameter on the "TICKLEX" line. Example:
TICKLEX x x e: x x x x x x MR
tells TickleX to use drive E as the swap drive. Remember that you
use the designated RAM disk for NOTHING other than RAMdesk, BillPower
and TickleX program swapping. And, if you're using the program on a
LAN, make sure than no two workstations access the same RAM disk.
-- Loading Pop-Up TickleX Automatically
The exception to the rule that the program must be entered
through TX.BAT (or TXMR.BAT) comes into play if you want pop-up Tick-
leX to be loaded automatically whenever you turn on your computer.
If you'd like pop-up TickleX to be loaded during your computer's
start-up routine, simply add the following lines at a convenient place
near the end of your root directory's AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
cd\managex
PC-BEEP x x x x x x x x x
TICKLEX x x x x x x x x x MR
These lines should be placed before any instructions involved in
calling up a menu or disk management program. Of course, the "x"
parameters following TICKLEX and PC-BEEP in the above example may, if
desired, be altered as described elsewhere in this documentation.
And, if you don't need a TickleX's alarm, get rid of the PC-BEEP line.
VERY IMPORTANT !!!
When used as a pop-up, TickleX will not automatically remind you
to back up your data files each day, as it does when you use it on a
stand-alone basis. It is EXTREMELY important that you back up your
data files EVERY DAY to floppy disks. Rotate among several sets of
5 -- POP-UP TICKLEX 49
backup disks; don't back up to the same disks every day. Use even-
and odd-day, as well as week-end and month-end, disk sets. For your
convenience, you might want to use the BACK.BAT (or REST.BAT) files to
back up to (or restore from) diskettes. To back up your data, just go
to the MANAGEX directory and enter "BACK C: A:" at the DOS prompt. To
restore, enter "REST A: C:" instead.
As mentioned above, if you don't have sufficient EMS memory and
haven't designated a RAM disk, TickleX will swap to the hard disk.
When swapping to the hard disk, the program creates and uses two hid-
den files, "TXxxx.SWP" and "TXAPPxxx.SWP", for each user accessing the
program ("xxx" are the user's initials). Normally, you won't have any
problems with disk swapping. But if, after having loaded TickleX, you
use other programs that cause your available hard disk space to drop
below 825 kilobytes, you may get a "FATAL SWAP ERROR" when you try to
pop into TickleX. If that happens, you'll have to re-boot your
machine, probably losing whatever you'd been working on when you pres-
sed the hot key. The lesson here is that you should not try using the
program as a pop-up unless you're sure that you'll never come close to
running out of space on whatever drive the program will be using for
swapping.
5 -- POP-UP TICKLEX 50
TICKLEX ON A LOCAL AREA NETWORK
When invoked for use on a LAN, TickleX utilizes file locking to
prevent two or more users from simultaneously altering the same record
in the data base.
-- Some Preliminaries...
If your LAN defaults to the assumption that you want it to auto-
matically lock files for you, you may have problems with TickleX.
TickleX, not your LAN, must decide when to lock which files. Make
sure that your LAN is configured to give ALL users complete access to
ALL files in the server's MANAGEX directory. Make sure that ALL prog-
ram and data files are "sharable" (eg: immediately after installing
the program onto a Novell workstation, enter "FLAG *.* S" at the DOS
prompt in the directory containing TickleX, and do the same in the
server directory that will contain TickleX's data).
Also make sure that each workstation's CONFIG.SYS file contains a
line that says, "FILES=40". The fact that your server may have such a
line in it's CONFIG.SYS file may do your workstations no good whatso-
ever.
IMPORTANT:
If you're a REGISTERED user (keep reading if you're
not), you must have a copy of TickleX that's been prepared
for the maximum number of users you intend to have on the
LAN. If you use a non-LAN version (or a LAN version that's
not prepared for as many users as you actually have on the
net), the program may appear to work properly in most ins-
tances, but you'll be running the risk of losing data. If
the number of users on your net ever increases beyond the
number for which you're registered, you must be sure to up-
date your registration and install a copy of the program de-
signed for more users. If you forget to do so, you may lose
data. Therefore, it's a good idea to register, not necessar-
ily for the number of users you presently have, but for the
maximum number you anticipate may eventually be on the net.
-- Using Only a Single Copy of TickleX on the Network
To load a single copy of the program onto the net, run the normal
install routine (eg: "INSTALL A: X:", where X is your server's drive
designation). This routine will automatically load the program into a
MANAGEX directory on the server.
Unless you want to use only one copy of the TX.BAT file on the
network (see the "Use of a Single Batch File on the Server" section
below), each workstation must have a dedicated directory, either on
6 -- TICKLEX ON A NETWORK 51
its own hard disk or on the server, from which it will run TickleX.
This dedicated directory must be located directly off the disk's root
directory and must contain a TX.BAT file, customized especially for
that workstation. Start with the TX.BAT file provided with TickleX.
Insert a couple of extra lines near the top of the TX.BAT file,
just below the line that reads, "cls". These extra lines should cause
the workstation to log into the server directory where TickleX's prog-
ram and data files will be maintained. Assume, for instance, that the
server's hard disk is referred to as drive "F" and that TickleX is
installed into the "MANAGEX" directory on that drive. In this case,
the lines to insert into the workstation's TX.BAT file would be:
F:
CD\MANAGEX
NOTE:
No directory/path name used with TickleX may exceed
fourteen characters in length.
Also, add a few lines at the very bottom of the TX.BAT file that will
cause the computer to log back into the workstation's "home" directory
when you exit TickleX. Examples:
Example 1 Example 2
--------- ---------
F: C:
CD\AWB CD\MANAGEX
CLS CLS
-- TX.BAT's `TICKLEX' line
Now, each workstation's TX.BAT file must also reflect its OWN
user's ID and that of the program's MAIN user (that is, the person
chiefly responsible for maintaining the data base). Additionally, it
must reflect both its OWN drive/directory and the SERVER drive/direc-
tory where TickleX is maintained. Read on.
Find the line in the TX.BAT file that begins with "TICKLEX".
After the word "TICKLEX", you need to add several parameters, each
separated by a space. The first four may already have been set (see
the SETTING UP section of CHAPTER 1), but if they're not, just sub-
stitute an "x" for each one. Example:
TICKLEX x x x x
The fifth parameter should be a 1- to 3-letter ID of the MAIN user
(the one chiefly responsible for TickleX). The sixth parameter should
be a 1- to 3-letter ID for this SPECIFIC workstation's user. For ex-
ample, if Jane Jones is the program's main user, the fifth parameter
following "TICKLEX" in each workstation's TX.BAT file might be "JJ".
6 -- TICKLEX ON A NETWORK 52
If the user of a specific workstation is Allen W. Bosley, that work-
station's TX.BAT file might specify "AB" at the sixth parameter.
IMPORTANT:
Make absolutely sure that each workstation's TX.BAT
file contains the SAME fifth parameter (since the MAIN user
is the same for all workstations). Also ensure that no two
stations have the same sixth parameter (since each individual
station is DIFFERENT). If you violate either rule, you run
the risk of losing data, despite the fact the program may
appear to be operating properly. Once you set up each work-
station's TX.BAT file, you might want to write-protect it, to
prevent it's being changed by a user.
The seventh parameter tells TickleX which of the server dir-
ectories will hold its common data base, accessible by all users. If,
for instance, a given workstation refers to that directory as
F:\MANAGEX, the seventh parameter should be "F:\MANAGEX".
The eighth parameter following "TICKLEX" should be the drive and
directory from which the workstation will be running TickleX. This is
that workstation's "home" directory.
Parameters nine and ten may be x's if need be, but the eleventh
parameter must be "1". This tells TickleX that there's just one copy
of the program on the network (see the next section if you decide
to run a separate copy of the program on each workstation).
Here are two examples that tie it all together:
PARAMETERS --> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
------------------------------------------------------------------
Example 1: TICKLEX x x x x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX x x 1
Example 2: TICKLEX x x x x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX x MR 1
Each of these examples tells TickleX that this workstation's "home"
directory is C:\MANAGEX. It also specifies F:\MANAGEX as the server
directory containing TickleX and its data. JJ is the main user, and
AWB is the local workstation's user. The second example's tenth para-
meter is "MR", informing TickleX to load itself as a memory-resident
program (see the POP-UP TICKLEX chapter), while the first example's
tenth parameter is "x", which is a null parameter that tells TickleX
nothing.
NOTE:
Each morning, TickleX will automatically bring forward
past Deadlines and Gotchas that haven't been tagged for
omission. When installed for use on a network, however, a
user's Deadlines/Gotchas will be brought forward only when
THAT SPECIFIC USER (or the one who entered the Deadlines and
Gotchas into the program) first loads TickleX at the beginning
of the day. If you'd prefer that the FIRST user to load the
program each morning be responsible for bringing forward
6 -- TICKLEX ON A NETWORK 53
EVERYONE's Deadlines/Gotchas, add "#" to the fifth para-
meter (eg: "TICKLEX x x x x JJ# AWB ..."). To have the MAIN
user (who may not necessarily be the first user) bring
forward everyone's Deadlines/Gotchas each morning, substitute
"*" for "#" (eg: TICKLEX x x x x JJ* AWB ...").
-- Using a Separate Copy of TickleX on each Workstation
Screen colors, printer, and other Customization items will be
identical for all workstations that access a common copy of the prog-
ram on the server. Those workstations that require different customi-
zations should have separate copies of the program installed in their
"home" directories. Another reason to load a separate copy of the
program onto one or more workstations is that you may have a slow net-
work that makes loading the program from the server seem to take
forever. Of course, the data must still be located centrally on the
server, but the program, itself, may be placed separately onto each
workstation.
To load a separate copy of the program onto each workstation,
run the normal install routine (eg: "INSTALL A: X:", where X is that
workstation's hard disk designation). This routine will automatically
load the program into a MANAGEX directory on the workstation.
Each workstation's MANAGEX directory must have a TX.BAT file,
customized especially for that workstation. Start with the TX.BAT
file provided with TickleX.
Insert an extra line near the top of the TX.BAT file, just below
the line that reads, "cls". This extra line should cause the work-
station to look to the server directory where TickleX will maintain
the common data files that all users will access. Assume, for ins-
tance, that the server's hard disk is referred to as drive "F" and
that TickleX's data files will be located in the "MANAGEX" directory
on that drive. In this case, the line to insert into the worksta-
tion's TX.BAT file would be:
CD F:\MANAGEX
Now, modify the TX.BAT file's "TICKLEX" line exactly as described
in the above section entitled "TX.BAT's `TICKLEX' Line". But DO
NOT include an eleventh parameter of "1". Instead, either eliminate
the eleventh parameter or substitute an "x" for the "1".
NOTE:
If you elect to use a separate copy of the program for each
workstation, you must manually copy the BLANKCAL and BLANKCL
files into the server's MANAGEX directory, where you should
keep the data. Also copy RECUR.DAT, RECUR.DAF, and RECUR.DAI
to the server's data-holding directory, since common copies of
these files need to be accessed by everyone using the program.
6 -- TICKLEX ON A NETWORK 54
-- Other Customizations to the TX.BAT file
The TX.BAT file may also contain references to some other prog-
rams: INPUT, EXPORT, PC-BEEP. You need to make sure that each of
these references is followed by parameters identical to those that
follow "TICKLEX". Examples:
if not exist util.bat input x x e: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB x x 1
pc-beep x x e: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB x x 1
TICKLEX x x e: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB x x 1
export x x e: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB x x 1
Also find every occurrence of "util%1" in the TX.BAT file and
substitute the local user's initials for "%1" (eg: change "util%1" to
"utilJJ" if JJ is the local user).
After you've customized each workstation's TX.BAT file, you'll
find that the program works much as it does as single-user software.
The main differences are that: 1) TickleX will occasionally delay a
user's entering something, as it waits for another user to finish some
process that could potentially change the data base; 2) only the main
(primary user's) workstation will be able to perform certain functions
(such as Editing with EDITX and Omitting); and 3) changes to the
data base made on one workstation may not be recognized by another
workstation until its user goes through some major process (such as
conducting a Hunt or Editing a record).
-- Passwords
If you want TickleX to demand a password whenever anyone tries to
access it, the second parameter following "TICKLEX" (in the TX.BAT
file) should contain the character sequence "PW". Example:
TICKLEX x PWMRLA E: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB x x 1
If you want password checking every time TickleX's hotkey is pressed
(assuming that it's been installed as a pop-up), the sequence should
"PWMR". If you want to limit access to the Utilities Module and
text Editor, add "LA" to the second parameter. If "LA" is included
in that parameter, the only person who will be allowed to access the
Utilities or the Editor will be the MAIN user. This will prevent
TickleX "rookies" from ruining some of the program's data.
If LAN-based TickleX is set up for password protection, the first
person ever to enter the program must be the main user identified by
the fifth parameter. That user must go to the Utilities module, sel-
ect the Customization option, and enter the initials of all the Tick-
leX users on the network. A user whose initials have not been entered
into the Customization routine's list won't be allowed in.
6 -- TICKLEX ON A NETWORK 55
-- Use of a Single Batch File on the Server
If you're using a single copy of the program on the network, and
you'd like to maintain only one TX.BAT file for the whole office (as
opposed to a separate one for each workstation), place that TX.BAT
file into the server's MANAGEX directory.
Start with the basic TX.BAT file supplied with TickleX. Modify
its "TICKLEX" line as described above in the section entitled,
"TX.BAT's `TICKLEX' Line", but make sure that the sixth parameter is
"%1". Also be sure to place disk/directory changing instructions near
the top and bottom of the batch file, as discussed above in the "Using
Only a Single Copy..." section above.
NOTE:
Some networks are configured in a manner that makes
it difficult to use a single TX.BAT on the server. If you
have difficulty, abandon trying to use a single TX.BAT file.
6 -- TICKLEX ON A NETWORK 56
SHARING DATA AMONG SEVERAL COMPUTERS
If you need to be able to share its data among several non-net-
worked computers, you'll have to utilize TickleX's specialized input
and output routines.
NOTE: Please bear in mind that you're authorized to use each
registered copy of TickleX on only one computer. If you plan
to use the program on several computers, please be sure to
register a separate copy for each one. Thanks.
You'll have to decide which of your computers will be considered the
"MAIN" computer. This will be the computer which will store TickleX's
data base. All other computers will be considered "SATELLITE" compu-
ters and should be using only copies of the main computer's data base.
Here's how the satellite system works. TickleX will be installed
on each satellite computer in a manner identical to that in which it
was installed on the main computer, except for a slight difference in
the TX.BAT file (covered later). At the main computer, you'll use
TickleX's OUTPUT function to create a specialized copy of the data
base on a diskette. The data on that diskette will then be trans-
ferred to a satellite computer. Over time, each satellite's copy of
the data base will have grown as each user adds events to the sched-
ule. After several days (perhaps a week, or so), each satellite's
modified data base will be transferred on diskette back to the main
computer and run through TickleX's INPUT routine. The INPUT routine
will add to the main computer's data base only those events which were
not present when each satellite's copy of the data base was originally
OUTPUT from the main computer. After all the satellites' new events
have been INPUT into the main computer, you're ready once again to use
the OUTPUT function to create new copies of the main computer's up-to-
date data base. The process starts again as these new copies are then
fed into each satellite computer.
The main computer's OUTPUT function is accessed by pressing ALT-O
at the Main Menu. Press ALT-I for the INPUT function.
If your satellite computer has a hard drive, you'll probably want
to transfer the data OUTPUT from the main computer to your satellite's
hard disk. To do so, you need to go through a satellite INPUT routine
comparable to that used at the main computer. Just place the diskette
containing the newly-output data into your satellite's floppy drive
and press ALT-I at the Main Menu. When it's time to output data from
the satellite to the main computer, press ALT-O at the satellite's
Main Menu to access the OUTPUT routine.
As mentioned above, each satellite computer's TX.BAT file must
differ slightly from that found on the main computer. Use EDITX.EXE
(^E from the Main Menu) to edit this file on each computer. Find the
line in the main computer's TX.BAT file that starts with "TICKLEX".
After the word "TICKLEX", you need to add four parameters, each separ-
7 -- SHARING DATA 57
ated by a space. The first three may already have been set (see the
SETTING UP section of CHAPTER 1), but if they're not, just substitute
an "x" for each one. The fourth parameter should be the word,"MAIN"
(eg:" TICKLEX X X X MAIN"). On each satellite computer, the line
fourth parameter should be "SAT" (eg: "TICKLEX X X X SAT"). Once
you've designated the main and satellite computers, YOU MUST NEVER,
NEVER change the fourth parameter. If you ever change the fourth par-
ameter, you may RUIN YOUR DATA BASE!
When you first install TickleX onto a satellite computer with a
hard disk, the first thing you should do when the menu appears is to
press ALT-I, so that you can input the main computer's database. Even
though you may not have entered any events on the main computer, you
must still transfer it's data to the satellite before you make any
entries on the satellite.
Every time you Output data from the satellite's hard disk to a
floppy, you must not make any more entries on that satellite until
you've: 1) transferred its data to the main computer; 2) Output the
main computer's updated data to a floppy; and then 3) Input that up-
dated data back into the satellite's database. ONLY AFTER THE SATEL-
LITE HAS THE LATEST DATA FROM THE MAIN COMPUTER SHOULD YOU MAKE ANY
NEW ENTRIES AT THE SATELLITE.
There are a few limitations to what can be done on a satellite
computer. First, you won't be able to Edit any events that were input
from the main computer's data base. The only items you can edit will
be those you've originally entered on the satellite computer since the
last transfer of data took place. You also won't be able to go
through the Omit routine (though you will be able to tag NEW items for
omission).
Please note that the data transferred to and from diskettes with
the INPUT and OUTPUT does not include Plans, Templates, Frequent or
Recurring Events, or Custom Reports. Only the main schedule's events
are transferred. Each satellite user must ensure that his list of
employees (in the Utilities module's Customize routine) is identi-
cal to the main computer's. If a satellite user creates a new Plan or
adds something to his Recurring Events file, he should be aware that
these items won't be transferred automatically with the INPUT and OUT-
PUT routines. Generally, the only items transferred will be those
that are created with the Make function.
7 -- SHARING DATA 58
EMPLOYEE/DEPARTMENT GROUPS
Employees may be grouped together for mass schedulings. As you
know, TickleX will track up to 200 employees. It will also track 20
groups, each of which may consist of up to 15 employees. Whenever you
schedule a group, you will effectively be scheduling each of it's con-
stituent employees. Whenever you hunt through the data base for a
group's activities, you will, in effect, be hunting for the activities
of that group's members. Anywhere that TickleX requests an employee,
you may substitute a group.
One reason for having some of your employees included in a group
is that you may wish to find a period when everyone in that group is
free for a meeting. Doing a "Scheduled Time" hunt (discussed in the
"Hunting for Entries and Preparing Reports" section of CHAPTER 2) for
that group will reveal all the time already scheduled for all group
members. Just fill in Hunt Gate C with the abbreviation for the group
in which you're interested, set the beginning and ending dates, and
begin the hunt. The gaps in the scheduled time shown on the report
will be the periods during which everyone in the group is free.
Groups should be listed in a file called GROUP.DAT, which TickleX
scans whenever you enter the program. You may create this file in
EDITX by pressing ^E at the Main Menu. Then press "G" at the EDITX
menu.
To set up a group, enter a unique 1- to 3-character abbreviation
under the "ABB" heading. Then hit the tab key to align the cursor for
the entry of that group's constituent employees. As you're entering
the employees, separate each by a slash, "/". Note that a group may
not contain another group. Example:
ABB --- CONSTITUENT DEPARTMENTS/EMPLOYEES ---
gp1 stb/gm/lta/prs
gp2 stb/mkr
gp3 tup/dst/prs
gp4 dst/stb/gm
gp5 gm/gp1 WRONG! -- gp1 is, itself, a group
9 -- GROUPS 59
AUTOMATED EXECUTION (MACROS)
You may have certain regularly performed routines that you wish
TickleX could perform automatically. That's what TickleX's AutoExe-
cute function is designed to do. Whenever the function is invoked,
TickleX will read a file that contains a series of keystrokes. It
will then execute each file-based keystroke as if you had entered it
at the keyboard. You may have as many AutoExecute files as you wish,
each designed to do a different tedious chore.
Before you set up an AutoExecute file, you should practice with
TickleX, in order to determine exactly which keystroke sequence you
want to place into the file. Then go to EDITX (^E from the Tick-
leX's Main Menu) to open the file. Once in EDITX, press "O" (for
"Other") and name the file you wish to create. Give it a name that
corresponds in some way to its function (don't forget the name; if you
do, you won't be able to access the new file later). Then, enter into
the new file each character that you want TickleX to "type" for you
when the AutoExecute function reads this file. The file may contain
up to 160 characters.
If you wish to place a date into the AutoExecute file, remember
that TickleX accepts "-7" as exactly one week ago, and "+1" as tom-
orrow. TickleX also considers an entry of "1" to mean the first day
of whatever month is currently displayed, while "30" means the thir-
tieth day.
There are several special characters that you can place into the
file to perform certain functions:
~ = RET (or Enter) ! = ESC
> = F6 : = ALT-P
; = ALT-F | = ALT-I
@ = ALT-O
_ (underline) will cause the AutoExecute function to pause for a
keyboard entry (one keystroke per underline).
/ will cause TickleX to skip its beginning-of-the-day
routine during which it moves past deadlines to
the current day's schedule if they haven't already
been tagged for omission. This "/" may have no
effect unless it's the first character in the
AutoExecute sequence.
Accessing the AutoExecute Function
To access the AutoExecute function from TickleX's Main Menu,
press ALT-A. To have TickleX go through an AutoExecute routine
whenever it's loaded (without having to press ALT-A), find the line
saying "TICKLEX" in the TX.BAT file, and place the name of the desired
AutoExecute file as the first parameter following "TICKLEX". For ex-
ample, "TICKLEX macro" will cause TickleX to execute the MACRO file
whenever you enter "TX xxx" at the DOS prompt.
10 -- MACROS 60
APPENDIX A: MESSAGES
"_____ is an unacceptable date ..." -- The format in which you entered
a date is incorrect. Press the RET key and try again, this time using
the `DA MON YR' format (eg: 12 OCT 89) or the MO/DA/YR format (eg:
10/12/89).
"Aborting because [disk drive] is full" --- Your disk may not be full,
but it does not have enough space on it to run TickleX. TickleX needs
at least as many free bytes as are taken up by the file whose name is
"M-JOURN.LBF". This message may also occur if the ManageX directory
(or any of it's subdirectories) contains more files than DOS allows.
"Corrupted data" -- Something has damaged the TickleX database since
the last time a data integrity check was done (probably yesterday).
You'd be wise to restore data from day-before-yesterday's backup
(since yesterday afternoon's is probably just a copy of files that
were somehow corrupted yesterday). If, after restoring that data,
TickleX still finds corrupted records, you should fall back to the
next-most-recent backup, and so on. As a last resort (if restoring
fails), you may wish to select the Indexing option in the Utilities
module. Anytime you want to check your data again, just go to Tick-
leX's Main Menu and press ^Y (Ctrl-Y).
"Disk Error" -- An error occurred while the program was accessing the
disk. The nature of the problem will be found in the second-to-last
set of parentheses. You may need to "pack" or "optimize" your hard
disk's files with a program such as "Disk Optimizer", "Vopt", "PC
Tools", or "Mace Utilities". Or you may have a serious hardware
problem requiring the eventual replacement or re-formatting of your
hard disk. This may be your first warning of an eventual hard disk
"crash".
"Do you want to overwrite the data already on this disk?" -- You're
trying to OUTPUT data to a diskette already containing current data.
If you proceed, you'll overwrite the data already on the diskette.
"Do you wish to re-assign ____ to another .... " -- You have just
erased an employee's identifier. If you want to assign that identif-
ier to another employee number, press `Y'; if you want to eliminate
that employee entirely, press `N'.
"Mis-linked record: " -- TickleX has encountered a record that is in-
correctly linked to another. This may not cause any problems, but
YOU'D BE WISE to get rid of it NOW and re-enter the data. So write
down the record number and date shown on the screen. You should know
that it is POSSIBLE that your data base is too corrupted to be fixed
by simply omitting and re-entering records. But you may wish to try
that first, before falling back on the restoring option found in the
Utilities module. As a last resort (if restoring fails), you may
wish to select the Indexing option in the Utilities module. By the
APPENDIX A 61
way, any time you want to re-check your data integrity, press ^Y
(Ctrl-Y) at the TickleX Main Menu.
"More than 200 events meeting your specifications ..." -- The maximum
number of events that TickleX can display for one day is 200. TickleX
can actually hold many more than that, but it can't display more than
200 meeting your specifications for the selected date at one time.
Make your specifications more discriminating, by, for instance, speci-
fying a particular employee.
"Printer not ready" -- Either your printer is not "on line" and ready
to receive data, or you're out of paper.
"RECORD IS ASSOCIATED WITH A PLAN" -- The event you're editing was
made automatically while you were creating or editing a Plan. Tick-
leX, therefore, will not allow you to edit it, except while you're
editing that Plan. The only exception to this rule is that you may
edit the notes attached to the event. To do so, press ^N (Ctrl-N).
"Serious Error" -- The nature of the problem will be found in the se-
cond-to-last set of parentheses, while the location of the problem
should be found in the last set.
"That entry is, itself, a reminder" -- You are attempting to enter a
reminder for a reminder. That isn't allowed. Reminders can be as-
signed to only Gotchas, Deadlines, Appointments, Vacations, and Trips,
not to other reminders.
"The _____ case does not exist" -- You have entered a case number for
a BillPower case that does not exist. If you've forgotten what cases
you have, press the F1 key when TickleX asks you for a case number.
"This diskette has no TickleX data" -- You're attempting to INPUT data
from a disk that does not contain the needed files.
"This item cannot be edited in the Hunt routine" -- If you want to
edit this item, you must use the Edit routine.
"Too many entries" -- You are attempting to add one more entry to a
TickleX data base that is already full (with 12000 entries). Before
you can add any more events to the data base, you need to Omit old
events that are no longer needed. Go to the Main Menu and press "O"
to go through the Omit routine.
"Too Many Users" -- An attempt has been made to use TickleX with more
users than are allowed by your registration. This message may also
occur if one or more users have exited TickleX in an unusual manner
(as would be the case, for instance, if power to a computer was lost).
If this is the case, you must first make sure that no computer on the
net is using TickleX. Then, load TickleX on the server computer and
press ALT-1 at the Main Menu. After this is done, each station may
then log into the program as usual.
APPENDIX A 62
"Use (^E)dit option to set up that Template" -- You have attempted to
copy a non-existent Template into a Plan file. If you made a mistake
in designating the Template, try entering it again. If you need to
set up that Template, you must do so in EDITX, accessed by pressing ^E
(Ctrl-E) at the Main Menu.
APPENDIX A 63